The Rudolf Steiner Archive

8. The Nature and Purpose of Freemasonry from the Perspective of Spiritual Science II

[ 1 ] Last time I spoke about Freemasonry, and I would like to say something more about it today. Please bear in mind that I am in a somewhat different position here than with the other subjects we have dealt with and will continue to deal with, because I usually only speak about things about which I have some kind of knowledge of my own, whereas here I must emphasize from the outset that, as a non-Freemason, I can only speak about Freemasonry from a theosophical point of view, and that, in truth, a Freemason would have to speak about what Freemasonry really is. He would not do so, but for other reasons it is not possible to discuss this here. At the same time, I ask you to take what I say with a grain of salt.

[ 2 ] When I said that only a Freemason could speak about the innermost essence of Freemasonry, I ask you to bear in mind that, despite everything, there is probably no such Freemason on the European continent. This may seem a little strange to you, but it is true. Freemasonry has been in a very peculiar state since the 18th century, and I ask you to understand everything I said last time in the sense that this is probably how things would be if Freemasonry were still as it was in the 16th and 17th centuries. But since this is not the case, Freemasonry is, so to speak, only a kind of shell lacking any real content. It can be compared to a fossilized plant, which is no longer what the plant actually is, but only a kind of shell or crust formed by something else.

[ 3 ] Ordinary, so-called Johannine Freemasonry is not relevant to what we are discussing here, because this Johannine Freemasonry with its three degrees—apprentice, journeyman, and master—began with the charter in Cologne in 1535. Today, it is basically nothing more than an association for mutual inspiration with regard to higher education and training, an association for the members to support and inspire each other. However, these first three degrees are, so to speak, only remnants of the original three Masonic degrees. And if it were still done today as it was in the past — which it is not — the apprentice, journeyman, and master would be initiated as I described last time. It is absolutely required that they be initiated in this way. But only a small number of people know that these rules exist, and an even smaller number know the meaning of these rules. Everything I have said about the effect of the ceremonies on the astral plane is something that is completely unclear to Johannine Freemasonry.

[ 4 ] Now, both the British and German Johannine lodges have these three degrees that I have mentioned. And they are actually all in the state I have just described. But there is a possibility, even within these three degrees, simply because the symbols are there, to see, so to speak, the foundation of deeper wisdom. Proof of this may be found in the fact that a Mason whom you know very well by name spoke to his lodge brothers in a way that basically reveals the seeds of his theosophical consciousness; that he spoke theosophical words in a certain sense, but was able to use them in a Masonic lodge at that time. This Mason is Goezhe.

[ 5 ] As Theosophists, you will immediately find something very familiar when I read you two verses from the Masonic poem that was intended for his lodge brothers:

But from beyond
The voices of the spirits
The voices of the masters call:
Do not neglect to practice
The powers of good.

Here crowns writhe
In eternal silence,
They shall reward with abundance
reward those who are active!
We bid you hope.

[ 6 ] Here Goethe speaks of the masters, and he speaks within the lodge because, even though he knows that those sitting around him in the lodge have no idea of the depth of his words, he also knows that the milieu of a Masonic lodge, the surrounding symbols, generate vibrations that affect the astral body and thus have a certain effect. This is something that even today is relied upon by those who know that very little of it exists in the consciousness of the masons.

[ 7 ] Those who are led beyond the first three degrees to the higher degrees have a little more awareness. The first of these degrees is the degree of the royal art, the Royal Arch degree. This degree is characterized by the fact that the “chapter” or “association” in question already has a very specific organization and is already imbued with a deeper meaning. In this degree, namely in those meetings where a new member is to be initiated into the secrets, no more than twelve so-called comrades may be present, so that they truly represent – as is the case with occult brotherhoods – something that is not themselves, but something that lives mysteriously among them. They should not be persons, but represent qualities.

[ 8 ] The first to represent what is to be the most important in the circle of the twelve is called Zerubbabel. He is a leader like the sun. From him shines the light that is to pass on to the others. He must be the wisest and should also be somewhat initiated into the nature and meaning of the secret sciences. In today's creations in the Royal Arch degree, this is rarely the case. So I am actually describing the ideal case, which can occur in very rare cases—when suitable people are available.

[ 9 ] Then the next two comrades join them: the high priest Jeshua and the prophet Haggai, who together with Zerubbabel form the Grand Council. Then come the first and second principal guests, then the two scribes Ezra and Nehemiah. The next is the bricklayer or lodge keeper, and then come the so-called lesser guests. There can be no more than twelve in total. These twelve represent the twelve signs of the zodiac. The whole thing is supposed to represent an image of the sun's passage through the twelve signs of the zodiac. This is reminiscent of what I have already described to you, that the masons started from the reproduction of astronomical laws of the universe in individual buildings, in domes, in cathedrals, and so on.

[ 10 ] The meeting place – although this is not always the case – is a square room with a blue vaulted ceiling covered with stars, truly representing a starry sky. The participants must be arranged in a very specific order during the ceremony. Those who enter last, the neophytes, stand in the north because they cannot yet tolerate the heat. Zerubbabel stands in the east. In the west stand the high priest Jeshua and the prophet Haggai. And in the south they stand with a rope wrapped around them; each has wrapped the rope around himself three times. There is a distance of three to four decimeters between them, then the rope is wrapped around the next person, and so on.

[ 11 ] The one who is initiated into this fourth degree of Masonry, which is the first of the higher degrees and in some regions still gives an idea of what the Temple legend really means, must pass through three curtains. At each of the three curtains, one of the secrets is revealed to him. The secret meaning of certain verses from the books of Moses is also always revealed. Then, when he has passed through the three curtains, he is told the secret of the sign of the tau, and then he is told the so-called sacred word, the master word, by which the members of the fourth degree recognize each other. In the first lesson, it is made clear to him how old Freemasonry is. The John Mason Freemasons do not usually learn this, or if they hear it, they have not the slightest understanding of such things. For the history of Masonry is told in the following way: The first real Mason was Adam, the first man, who, when he was expelled from Paradise, possessed an extraordinary knowledge of geometry and was the first Mason because he was the first man to descend directly from the light. However, the actual, deeper origin lies before the creation of humankind. The origin lies in the light, and the light precedes humankind.

[ 12 ] This is extraordinarily profound and, for those who can understand it, points to what theosophical wisdom has rediscovered by describing the origin of the earthly through the first two root races up to the third. Those who take this into account in Freemasonry absorb something of tremendous significance. But this is the case for very few, because Freemasonry today has, so to speak, degenerated. This stems from the fact that, since the 16th century, little has been understood of the true meaning of Masonry, namely that a temple should be built in such a way that its dimensions are a replica of great heavenly proportions, that a cathedral should be built in such a way that its acoustics reflect something of the harmony of the spheres, which is precisely what gives it its acoustics.

[ 13 ] Gradually, people lost awareness of this original view. Thus, in the first half of the 18th century, when Desaguliers reunited Freemasonry in England, there was no real awareness that the word was to be taken literally, that it really meant masonry, that a mason was really someone who, according to the laws of heaven, could build churches, temples, and higher buildings, into which he incorporated not earthly but heavenly conditions.

[ 14 ] This intuitive vision and reproduction in masonry was lost; the awareness that it is something different to speak in a house that acoustically reflects language in a very specific way and thus has a different effect was lost. Those who built the great cathedrals in the Middle Ages were the great Freemasons. They were aware that it depended on the words spoken by the priest being reflected back in the right way by the individual walls, so that the whole congregation lived in a sea of sound that swayed in meaningful vibrations that had an even greater significance for the astral body than for the physical ear. All this has been lost and had to be lost in the new age. This is the meaning of what I said when I said that today only a shell remains of what Freemasonry once meant.

[ 15 ] In addition to these John degrees, there are also the high degrees. Namely, the larger communities of Great Britain, America, Italy, Egypt, and the Orient—especially those known as Oriental Masonry and Memphis Masonry—have these higher degrees in almost complete form. In Germany, too, where there is a branch of Memphis-Misraim Masonry that is connected with Masonry throughout the world, the higher degrees are studied. However, within Johannine Masonry in Germany, there is so little awareness of the actual significance of the higher degrees that Johannine Masons in Germany generally consider the higher degrees to be nonsense. The German Grand Orient is therefore forced to recognize only Johannine Masonry as true Masonry.

[ 16 ] There are major differences between German and English or British Masonry in this regard. In British Freemasonry, the Treaty of Tolerance of 1813 brought about a kind of compromise between Johannite Freemasonry with its three degrees and the higher degrees, so that one can enter Johannite Freemasonry as an apprentice and then advance to the fourth, fifth, and sixth degrees, i.e., the higher degrees. The John degrees are credited in England; this is not the case in Germany. The German Grand Orient of the Memphis and Misraim Order therefore handles the three lowest degrees itself. The Orient Freemason must therefore have acquired the first three degrees from the outset and must also commit himself to advancing to at least the 18th degree. He may not rest before then. A German Johannine Mason will therefore not be admitted to the high degrees of Oriental Freemasonry. This Oriental Freemasonry is a step-by-step training in occultism. As I said last time, it is a reflection of the training of the higher degrees – these are linked to the Royal Arch degree – in which one undergoes a kind of astral training that goes up to the 18th or 20th degree. Then comes the stage where one undergoes a kind of mental training, a training that leads to a kind of life on the mental plane. These are the degrees up to the 60th and 70th degrees, and then comes the highest training or the deepest occult training that can still be undertaken by the Grand Orient up to the 96th degree.

[ 17 ] There are only a few in Germany who have risen to the 96th degree. But despite everything, there is something here that will prove to you how little Freemasonry today has of what it once was. The most interesting thing about this is that those who have graduated to the 96th degree have not gone through Masonic training at all, that there is hardly anyone who has gone through the entire training in any way. So there are some who have higher degrees. They are awarded the 3rd, 33rd, and 96th degrees. But those who have them did not obtain them through training in Freemasonry, but in other occult schools, and they have condescended to bring their training to bear in Freemasonry for the good of Freemasonry. If someone has the 96th degree, they did not achieve it in Freemasonry. It is actually expected that Freemasonry will benefit from the occult training of other schools.

[ 18 ] In this sense, the manifesto published by the Grand Orient of the Memphis and Misraim Rite can also be regarded as a kind of ideal document. I will read it to you and add a few explanations. What is said there should not be taken to mean that it could be carried out today. Today, it is pointed out from the outset that no Mason—not even one of the 96th degree—would want to take responsibility for enforcing the rules on any Mason because he has not gone through them himself.

[ 19 ] “From the secrets of the occult high degrees of our Order. A manifesto of the Grand Orient.” ‘One of the secrets that our Order possesses in its highest degree is that it provides the properly prepared brother with the practical means to erect the true Temple of Solomon in man, to rediscover the ’lost word,' , that is, that our order provides the initiated and chosen brother with the practical means to enable him to obtain proof of pure immortality already in this earthly life.”

[ 20 ] This is one of the most important points. The next point is also one that exists in all occult schools: no conjuring of spirits or spiritualistic practices. Spiritualistic practices are strictly prohibited.

[ 21 ] “This secret is one of the true Masonic secrets and is exclusively in the possession of the occult high degrees of our Order. It has been handed down to our Order by oral tradition from the fathers of all true Freemasonry, the 'wise men of the East', and is also passed on by us only orally.”

[ 22 ] This is the practice of occult societies.

[ 23 ] “Of course, the success of this practical instruction in obtaining this secret depends entirely on the candidate himself.”

[ 24 ] “For what use is it to give a student who wants to learn to swim the best, most tried and tested, and most detailed instructions on swimming if, once he is in the water, he does not move his hands and feet himself? Or what use is it to give a painting student the most comprehensive instructions on painting and to paint the most fiery colors for him; if he does not take the brush in his own hand and try to achieve the mixture of colors himself, he will never become an artist.”

[ 25 ] “Those brothers who had now discovered this secret kept it as a precious, self-earned possession, and in order not to be misunderstood or even mocked by everyday people, they hid it under symbols, as we still do today.”

[ 26 ] These symbols are no longer legible to masons today. These symbols are not arbitrarily chosen external symbols. They are not things through which someone represents something like a professor who says: I want to show you something graphically. These symbols are taken from the things themselves, written by nature itself. Those who recognize them, who are truly able to read them, come into contact with the inner nature of things; they lead them into the thing itself. The thing itself exists and is not merely symbolized. In Masonry, there is no one who can give instructions on how to arrive at the things themselves.

[ 27 ] “These symbols are not arbitrarily chosen images, nor are they based on any coincidence, but are founded on the attributes of God and man, and we must regard them as archetypes. However, we will never take the form, the vessel, the ritual, the symbols for the content, but will seek the spiritual content in the form,” — these words show ... [gap], because the symbol itself represents the thing—and “after we have found the same”—the spiritual content—"and taken it into ourselves, we recognize from the spiritual content the absolute necessity of the form, the ritual, the symbolism.”

[ 28 ] “Our high degrees therefore give the brother the opportunity to obtain certain proof of the immortality of man.” — They would do the same if they were edited. — ”This is and has been the great longing since thinking people have existed. Man needs this conviction of his life after death in order to be truly happy in this life. The mysteries of all religions and schools of wisdom have therefore also dealt with this question as their highest and most noble task. Christianity naturally also deals with the solution to this question of “the lost word,” the “lost eternal life,” but it always refers the seeker to the path of grace and always presents it as a gift and not as something that can be acquired or earned. Our Order, however, places it within the reach of every individual seeker to unite consciously and of their own free will with world consciousness, the original creative power, already in this life by means of practical methods.

[ 29 ] This means enabling insight into and union with that world which can otherwise only be opened through the gate of death.

[ 30 ] You can see from all this that what belongs to the deepest core of the world was originally present in Freemasonry, but is no longer there in the empty shell that it is today. You must ask yourselves: Why? Well, the meaning expressed in the Temple legend, the meaning of Masonry as a craft, had to be lost, like all intuitive knowledge, because the fifth sub-race became the actual intellectual race. Intuition had to lie dormant in the world for a while, and the way Freemasonry works is intuitive. I refer you to Vitruvius and to the true symbolic instructions for building. However, only those who have the intuition for it can follow these instructions. Today, these symbolic instructions have been replaced by intellectual, rational ones. The intellect had to form the actual stage of human development for a while because everything that has come to us in the meantime in terms of nature's great achievements had to be incorporated into the whole organism of human creativity.

[ 31 ] Just understand what it means: the entire mineral kingdom is being incorporated into the progress of our development during our present cycle. It is incorporated in such a way that human beings gradually reorganize the whole of nature with their own spirituality. That is the meaning of the Iron Sea, that everything in mineral nature is truly reorganized.

[ 32 ] In industry, humanity works to incorporate organization [ev.: its own spirituality?] into mineral nature. If you look at a machine ... [gap].

[ 33 ] Thus, through his own spirit, man truly transforms the entire mineral kingdom. This transformation of nature, this transformation of the mineral kingdom, will be complete when our cycle has come to an end. Then the entire mineral nature will have been transformed. Man will have given it his stamp, just as he gives a stamp to a quantity of metal when he makes a clock, for example. When a new cycle begins, the mineral kingdom can be absorbed.

[ 34 ] In order to complete the development in this area, the entire way of thinking that has gripped humanity since the 16th century must continue to spread down to the atom. Only when intellectual thinking has grasped the atom can Freemasonry revive. On the first stage, the outer form is grasped. The next stage will be when human beings have learned to think down to the mineral atom, so that they are able to use what lives in the atom and place it at the service of the whole. However, only today, and perhaps only for the last five years, has human thinking taken the direction that follows the force of nature down to the atom, and those who want to understand this precisely must follow the last phase of the various electrical stages. Interesting in this connection, but only in very external hints, is the speech given by the English Prime Minister Ba/four on our present world view. What he said there [about the new electrical theory] is something tremendously significant. It points to the enormously important turning point in the development of human thinking. He is aware of this to a certain extent and also mentions it at one point. Thus we see how something of what is coming in the future is dawning in scientific consciousness. The occultist has known this since 1879. I emphasize this, although I cannot further justify it. The occultist knows that this will come: a new starting point from the atom into the mineral-physical world. This will be what will come into the world in the sixth subrace, and through which Freemasonry can also be revived. The occultist finds something very strange, something unprecedented in Freemasonry, because it has the ancient as its foundation. It is one of the oldest traditions that has been preserved with a highly specialized structure of almost a hundred degrees, even though it has lost almost all of its content and none of the members of Freemasonry in Europe are able to form a correct concept of it. Nevertheless, the thing is there, so that all that is needed is to fill the empty shell with new content. The thing is there, waiting to be revived.

Keywords from the subsequent discussion

[ 35 ] Masonry of Memphis, Oriental Order, and the Grand Orient. At an occultist congress, there was a discussion about whether occult teachings can be published or not. This revealed that there are two directions, one left-wing and one right-wing, one liberal and one conservative.