The Rudolf Steiner Archive

17. Freemasonry and Human Development I

[ 1 ] I have asked you to come to a brief discussion on occult matters for the reason that one must recognize that anyone who participates in the Theosophical Movement must be clear not only about the external matters set forth in the programs, but also about where this Theosophical Movement can lead. Now, the occult currents that exist within the Theosophical Movement are, in fact, related in a certain respect to earlier occult currents. Specifically, we shall take up one of these—one that extends into the present day—as our point of reference today: Freemasonry.

[ 2 ] You know that in Freemasonry, at least until the end of the 17th century, it was strictly frowned upon to have any female members. There was a good reason for that at the time. For once the reason why Freemasons did not have female members ceases to exist in the course of world development, then the time will also have come for the work of Freemasonry on the physical plane to be superseded by theosophical work. For the time being, theosophical work is preparatory work. Men and women will participate equally in theosophical work.

[ 3 ] If I were to briefly explain why women should be excluded from Freemasonry, I could only say that one does not exactly reveal one’s secrets to the enemy; one does not exactly send him one’s battle plan. That is not done in any war. And it will become clear to us that, in a certain sense, Freemasonry involves a kind of opposition to the world of women.

[ 4 ] Freemasonry is the continuation of ancient secret societies and brotherhoods. Such secret societies, at least in the form in which they live on in Freemasonry, originated right at the dawn of the fourth subrace of our fifth root race—that is, the very subrace from which Christianity later sprang.

[ 5 ] You know that the written form of the Bible is dated back only a few centuries before the birth of Christ, and rightly so. But biblical revelation had been a tradition for millennia before that. In the past, it was not customary to write such things down, but rather to pass them on by word of mouth. Therefore, there is some merit in assuming that the mysteries entrusted by Moses to the priesthood were not written down until later.

[ 6 ] The period in world history when the Bible appeared as a document also coincides with the creation and emergence of what is known as the Masonic legend.

[ 7 ] In the evolution of the world, it must always be regarded as a law that what happened in the past is briefly repeated later. Every human being repeats in the womb the stages that the race has already gone through. Every planet repeats in its early stages the stages of development it has already undergone. What existed before is always briefly repeated. The same is true of the races. That is why the first, second, and third subraces of our fifth root race are a repetition of earlier earthly conditions, only on a certain higher plane. What developed beginning with the Lemurian race and continuing through the Atlantean era was repeated on a certain higher plane in our three subraces. Thus, we have a repetition of what previously existed in the Lemurian era on a subordinate plane. This was—before the emergence of dual sexuality—a kind of dual-gendered state; a state of single gender, insofar as both genders were represented within the individual being. Only then did the separation into the two genders follow. Thus, what was originally male-female became, only then, male and female. On the spiritual plane, something similar is now repeating itself in our root race. In fact, the knowledge, the wisdom that was characteristic of ancient, pre-Vedic India, had something male-female about it and, through this, was at the same time something entirely independent of any duality, of any external principle. Then came the culture of the second subrace. This is, in the most eminent sense, a two-gendered spiritual culture. Hence dualism arises there: Ormuzd and Ahriman, good and evil. All of this intermingles with the insights.

[ 8 ] Now let us try to understand how this came about. It came about because, initially—before there were male and female sexes—a single individual possessed both sexes. We must now ask: What in that single individual was the receptive part, and what was the active part? In ancient Greek mythology, Zeus is depicted with powerful female breasts. This expresses a truth that was known in the ancient mysteries and that the ancient texts also teach us: that the sex—if I may call it that—which immediately preceded ours did not resemble the male sex outwardly and physically, but rather the female sex. Thus, before the external separation, we have both genders in a single individual who was outwardly—in physical appearance and in the entirety of sensation and being—female. We are thus dealing, at the origin of the human race, with a hermaphroditic individual inclined toward the feminine side. The male sex emerged only later. Now we must be clear that within this individual, who contained both sexes within itself, there was also a fertilizing, male seed. The woman had the man within her. If we realize that the woman had the man within her, then we can also imagine, according to our usual scientific concepts, that reproduction was ensured. Let us note for the moment that this took place through the woman at that time.

[ 9 ] Now came the time when things were to go their separate ways. What, then, was the nature of that which fertilized the woman—that which the feminine nature fertilized on the physical plane? That which acted upon the feminine as a seed was the masculine; and that was the spiritual, the wisdom. The female provided the substance; the spirit provided the form. Manifestation on the physical plane is wisdom made real. Wisdom was at work within the female. Now the two became differentiated, as the two elements that had previously worked together emerged as two separate poles. What had previously been condensed into a single human organ separated, and thereby a duality arose in human development. This duality arose in such a way that, first of all, within a single individual, fertility—the possibility for the female egg to reproduce—ceased. The female egg lost the ability to be fertilized within its own body. Thus, we are dealing with a feminine principle that has become infertile and a spiritual principle standing above it. The separation of the two sexes occurred through the division of the physical organs, and the possibility of fertilization is now provided by the other sex. Two individuals emerge, one with physical femininity and the other with physical masculinity: wisdom has a feminine character in the man and a masculine character in the woman.

[ 10 ] Separation is a precise process that can be traced. However, we must content ourselves with hints here. We are thus dealing with masculine-tinged wisdom in women and feminine-tinged wisdom in men. This feminine-tinged wisdom is passive; it is suited to receiving, listening, observing, and taking in what is all around. Masculine-tinged wisdom—active wisdom—brings forth. Hence, we have a twofold wisdom: feminine wisdom, which is active and is naturally also transmitted to men; so that there are also plenty of men who embrace feminine wisdom. On the lower level, the gender continues as before, and on the higher level, we are dealing with an active intuition that originates from the woman and a passive insight that bears a decidedly masculine character.

[ 11 ] This depicts the ancient mystery teachings as the opposition between the sons of Abel—or the sons of the gods—and the sons of Cain—or the sons of man. Abel represents active feminine intuition. Therefore, he is unable to take in anything from the outside that needs to be processed. He receives the divine that flows through him, which flows into his intuitive being. This is symbolized by the “shepherd”: he nurtures and cares for life, just as intuition nurtures the divine life of wisdom. Cain possesses masculine wisdom, which takes in from the outside. It takes the earth as its domain to till the soil; the material is outside. He becomes the “farmer.” What, then, does this wisdom of Cain, this science of Cain, accomplish, since, as a passive science, it is merely receptive? What does it accomplish?

[ 12 ] There is a very interesting and important legend in which these truths are symbolically expressed in relation to Freemasonry. This is the Temple Legend. And the reason for its existence is as follows.

[ 13 ] The Bible itself—the Old Testament—emerged from feminine, intuitive wisdom; it bears its fundamental character. The Old Testament is feminine wisdom. Masculine wisdom did not reach the level of intuition. It was limited to building and working; it took stones and built structures, it took metals and made tools. The temple legend depicts it this way:

[ 14 ] One of the Elohim impregnated Eve, and thus Cain was born. Subsequently, Jehovah—another of the Elohim, also called Adonai—created Adam. And Adam fathered Abel with Eve. This legend now contrasts the wisdom of Cain with biblical wisdom, so that at the dawn of the fourth subrace we have two opposing currents: the Bible as feminine wisdom and “Temple wisdom” as its masculine counterpart. What the man [masculine wisdom?] desired was already set in opposition to feminine wisdom in pre-Christian times. What follows is that Cain kills his brother Abel. This is also stated in the Temple legend. Jehovah set strife between the lineage of Cain and the lineage of Abel, and Cain killed Abel. This means nothing other than ... [Here, in the postscript, follow several very unclear sentences.]

[ 15 ] What was the consequence of this “wisdom of Cain” coming into being? The consequence was that the fruitful—which reproduced through its own wisdom—was killed. By killing Abel, the masculine knowledge within Cain killed what had been brought forth by the gods: the possibility of self-reproduction. In other words, as knowledge passes to the man, it kills the Abel within him.

[ 16 ] This is a process that takes place within human beings themselves. Through masculine insight, the creative power—Abel—is killed. Now the descendants of Cain and the lineage of those who take Abel’s place—the descendants of Seth—stand in opposition to one another. The descendants of Cain are those who apply their masculine wisdom to the construction of the outer world; passive wisdom is applied to the construction of the outer world. Divine wisdom does not flow down upon them. From the outside, they must build the world brick by brick. They possess no divine intuition. Through trial and error, through experience, the purely mineral products of the earth are brought together. Thus Tubal-Cain is born of this lineage of Cain, and thus Hiram-Abiff or Adon-Hiram is later born of this lineage.

[ 17 ] I have reserved the right to ...^{1See “Notes.”}

[ 18 ] Among the Abelites, you will find their strongest representative in Solomon. In the third sub-race, all of their representatives were found among the priests. The ancient priestly wisdom was intuitive wisdom. This wisdom, which had previously operated in women as the power of conception, was transformed on a higher level into spiritual wisdom. And from this priestly wisdom, the Bible emerged. In this way, the Bible has become a form of feminine wisdom. This feminine wisdom is capable of providing great revelations about the divine; of explaining the nature of angels and spirits. Creating on earth is the task of the sons of Cain. That is why Tubal-Cain is the forefather of blacksmiths. Hence, Solomon must call upon Hiram-Abiff, who can build the temple for him. He builds the temple for King Solomon—the successor to the ancient priestly wisdom—for Solomon, who transforms priestly wisdom into external power. The monarchy emerged as an external institution from the priestly rule.

[ 19 ] So Solomon sent for Hiram-Abiff. And that is how the Temple of Solomon was built. But then the Queen of Sheba arrived at King Solomon’s court, and a sort of betrothal was celebrated between the two. She is also shown the Temple, and she asks to meet the architect of this magnificent Temple. When she meets the architect of this magnificent Temple, something quite peculiar happens within her. A glance from Hiram Abiff fell upon her, and it ignited something within her. And the second thing that happened was as follows. When she wanted to see the workers and how everything was proceeding on the physical plane, Hiram-Abiff took the Tau sign, held it aloft, and the workers all rushed together like ants. This caused her to turn against Solomon. Some of Hiram-Abiff’s journeymen, whom Hiram did not want to make into masters, came to Solomon’s aid. And these now sought to prevent Hiram’s masterpiece—the casting of the Bronze Sea. Instead of a work of art coming into being, streams of fire now surged out in all directions. Hiram tried to dampen the whole thing with water; but this only threw it into even greater confusion. A shower of fire rains down, and everyone is engulfed by it. Hiram-Abiff as well. But a voice calls out to him not to be afraid, for from this his greatest success will emerge. Now he is led by a figure to the center of the earth. There he meets Cain himself, to whom he has been led by Tubal-Cain—the creator of the art of blacksmithing. There, an important truth is revealed to him. He is told: “Now recognize the true Jehovah, who is the reason you are here. But Jehovah hates the Sons of Fire and wants to destroy them; he wants to destroy his own creation. But you have nothing to fear. A son will be born to you, whom you yourself will not see, but from whom a lineage will emerge, from which a new form of fire worship will arise on Earth. — With the hammer given to him by Tubal-Cain, he is then able to bring the planned Bronze Sea to fruition and thereby earn even more of the Queen of Sheba’s affection. While out for a walk, a bird appears in the air displaying the mystical sign of the Tau. From this, the queen’s nurse recognizes that the future of wisdom is hidden within this sign of the Tau. At a feast during which Solomon had become intoxicated, the Queen of Sheba removes the engagement ring from his finger. Hiram Abiff, however, is ambushed and killed by the journeymen. He is only able to write the hidden word on a golden triangle and conceal it. It is later sought out and enclosed within a stone shaped like a cube. Engraved on this stone, which conceals the hidden word, are the Ten Commandments.

[ 20 ] This is the wisdom of the temple, which male scholarship has set in opposition to female wisdom. These are things that need only be explained, need only be examined for their occult meaning, in order to recognize their profound significance.

[ 21 ] Just imagine: Hiram-Abiff is led to become the progenitor of his lineage. There he receives instructions: he is told that Jehovah is an enemy of the Sons of Fire. Who are the Sons of Fire? They are those who could only come into being through the separation of the sexes, through the influence of a physical man upon a physical woman. Fire is the active power of the male seed. In the male seed, fire lives in the occult sense. Jehovah had to create this fundamental force so that the human race could be propagated. Jehovah created the Sons of Fire, which was only possible because of this fire. Therefore, he is the enemy of the New. It was he who perpetuated the old way of procreation. What was created, then, was merely a pretext, and for this reason he had turned once again to the priests and made them his heralds. He had his power and the glory of his own wisdom proclaimed through the wisdom of the priests. Through the wisdom of the priests, the wisdom of Jehovah has been proclaimed.

[ 22 ] Hiram Abiff is thus called upon to take charge of the Bronze Sea—that is, the transformation of the mineral kingdom through the arts. He is also told that a son will be born to him who, even though he himself cannot see him, will bring forth a new race. This son is none other than the new race that is one day to take the place of the old, the present one—the new race in which it will no longer be necessary for the two sexes to unite, but in which procreation can once again be accomplished by a single human individual. This points to a distant future. The old feminine culture has been replaced by the masculine one. The feminine, as a physical form, will die out. Then the masculine must possess a power within itself to bring forth an individual from itself. And where does this power reside?

[ 23 ] In the past, the masculine and feminine were united within a single individual. And when these two separated, the individual as we know it today emerged. The upper part came into being. What is [today] the upper part was then united with the sexual organs. What is today the sexual organ is half of the [creative] power of that time. Therefore, the power residing in the larynx is the other half. Language still produces nothing today. It must first be imbued with the wisdom of Cain and must then produce in this way. When humankind has attained the power such that its larynx is developed enough for its word to become creative—so that through the word it will bring forth its own kind—then the entire productive power will pass to the male sex. What was once created by the gods will then pass on to humankind. When was the Word lost? When the two sexes came into being. It is buried, hidden. The sons of Cain possessed it only through their forefather. Hiram-Abiff was at least to receive the prophecy concerning it. But he was killed immediately afterward.

[ 24 ] The Word is buried, but it is there. If it were not buried, man would be self-creating, just as the Elohim is self-creating. Therefore, the “Word” in Freemasonry is not the true “Word,” but the false “Word.” The true Word is hidden. The Ten Commandments are engraved on the stone that contains the hidden Word. What are the Ten Commandments? They are the laws of the moral world order. They maintain social relations as they currently exist under the influence of people of both sexes. Such commandments will no longer be necessary when there are no longer two sexes. It is the social order that has arisen under the influence of the two sexes.

[ 25 ] Thus, in Freemasonry, we seek to preserve the memory of the lost Word, which is to be attained by those who work within Freemasonry, and which can only be attained when passive masculine wisdom awakens activity within itself. That is why Freemasonry says: Everything that is not produced from one’s own knowledge, which has been spread throughout the world, still stems from the ancient times of female priestly rule. We do not merely wish to adopt [overcome?] this, but also to initiate a new cycle of existence; we ourselves must impart intuition to the masculine knowledge of Cain. That would be impossible if one were to deprive man of his power by making woman a co-knower of the secret. The moment one were to speak in the presence of women, the whole thing would be rendered ineffective.

[ 26 ] It was therefore necessary for the entire female sex to be excluded from Freemasonry. This is connected to the fact that the organ of speech is linked to gender and sexuality. That is why men also undergo a transformation when they reach sexual maturity. This transformation is nothing other than the expression of the ancient connection between the organ of speech and the sexual organ. Now you will also understand what the Freemason says: Only the man is called upon to utter the lost Word and to recast it; only the male larynx is capable of saying and knowing what can be regained through the lost Word. If we understand it this way, we will realize why women were not permitted to convey the New through their mouths. — It is amusing to see scholars cite the following as a reason: women are not admitted because they blab everything. — The female larynx has remained a vestigial organ. It is the male larynx, however, that is developing into the organ of the future.

[ 27 ] You can see that these are profound and significant connections, and that the term “mason” should be taken in the most literal sense possible. Therefore, in Greek and Roman times, masons were the builders of what is meant to express beauty. Cathedrals, temples, and other significant structures were built by these master builders.

[ 28 ] The fact is that, of course, part of what has been achieved by the Masonic Order had to be drawn once again from the ancient wisdom of the priests. Thus, you have once again a blend of feminine wisdom and masculine striving. Essentially, the secret of Freemasonry is that which has not yet been revealed, that which does not yet exist at all—and thus cannot be revealed, since it does not yet exist. It is that which will be spoken once the power of creation is inherent in the word.

[ 29 ] These are a few words that will clarify the concept of Freemasonry for the occultist. People knew this to be true well into the 18th century. It was only when the connection to the higher worlds was lost that Freemasonry, too, lost awareness of what had been lost. And yet, not entirely. Freemasonry was watered down; people claimed they no longer understood its meaning. But one must be clear about the fact that everything that exists there as symbols stems from the ancient wisdom of the priests, and that what lies within those symbols has yet to be revealed. True feminine wisdom is gradually being lost entirely. That is why the so-called high degrees—the guardians of feminine wisdom—have been allowed to disappear. All that remains is what is called Johannine Freemasonry, which deals only with worldly matters and understands nothing beyond them.

[ 30 ] But this, too, is only natural, for as materialism developed, priestly wisdom was bound to be lost. What can happen now? The old wisdom is gone. We are to live in the external world. What is the consequence of this? It is that something better can only enter again when a wisdom emerges that is once more genderless—one that is no longer connected to feminine or masculine wisdom, no longer to the feminine tradition of the Bible, and no longer to the masculine tradition of temple legends. We encounter this wisdom in Theosophy. In this wisdom, both genders understand one another. There, the man who is within the woman works upon the woman, and there, that which is in turn genderless works upon the man. There, the masculine and the feminine meet in the recognition of the higher plan. It is therefore quite natural that the actual occult foundation was introduced as Freemasonry, and that a new approach was taken. Such a thing is called a “vortex”:

[ 31 ] This is truly how things are intertwined in our time. This is how we must conceive of them as converging. Therefore, Theosophy has not relied on biblical legends or temple legends, but has sought out the core of wisdom in all things—a core that must be restored, in a genderless form. Now you can see how Theosophy is the source of peace and the bringer of harmony.

[ 32 ] How is this brought together in our root race? Our root race repeats what was already there in the past. It clearly expressed, in the spiritual realm, the contrast to what had already existed in the Lemurian era. Opposition had to arise because the female gender came first and is on a descending line, while the male gender is on an ascending line and seeks within itself the seed force that the female possesses. If we remain in the lower regions, we must make a precise distinction through occultism: one who is a racial human of the Atlanteans need not at the same time be a soul human of the Atlanteans. Thus, the soul is not bound to gender either. The souls of the female gender move through until they can co-inhabit the bodies that men have made for themselves, and a gender will come into being on Earth.

[ 33 ] As long as men were still in opposition to women, they had to remain silent. The way was paved for the union of the sexes by the founding of adoption lodges in the 18th century. The first was founded in 1775. There, a form of Freemasonry was practiced that used different symbols than those of male Freemasonry. However, because such adoption lodges of the male Freemasons also admitted women, the groundwork was laid for the union of the sexes. The founder of our society was also a member of such an adoption lodge. So this also involves what must be described as the beginning of Theosophy. Theosophy is thus a global mission connected to occult currents and must operate from within Freemasonry. It could even be revived and help us.

[ 34 ] But this is the deeper idea: that in the field of theosophy, this one-sided masculine striving must be overcome. Throughout the Middle Ages, there was already a magnificent preparation for the spiritual generation of the opposite sex within the man. Through concentration within himself, man first generates as a thought what is later to arise within him as being. Hence, the cult of Mary arose throughout the Middle Ages as a preparation for this. It is nothing other than the concentration aimed at generating the feminine within the masculine, while the cult of Jesus serves the same purpose for women. The cult of Mary has its origin in this foundation.

[ 35 ] Now you will understand the confusion that must have arisen when an order emerged that broke with all of this and seeks to reclaim feminine wisdom. What is at stake is dominion over the world, which is to be conquered. If anyone wishes to leave the ancient wisdom as it is, they must conquer the world for the ancient forces. Such an order exists: it is the Society of Jesus. It has consciously taken on this task. That is why the Jesuits and the Freemasons are so sharply opposed to one another.