The Rudolf Steiner Archive

20. How does one attain knowledge of the higher worlds in the Rosicrucian sense?

[ 1 ] Less well-known than some of Goethe’s other poems is his poem “Die Geheimnisse” (“The Mysteries”). This poem remains a fragment. Goethe tells us of a pilgrim, Brother Markus, whose wanderings remind us of the fate of Parzival. After a long journey, he arrives at a secluded house, a monastery-like building. Inside, he finds a fellowship, a gathering of twelve figures. He finally comes to know the nature and character of the Twelve and of the Thirteenth, who is their leader. Each of these Twelve has an extraordinarily important task: to provide a kind of biography of the Thirteenth. This Thirteenth has worked his way through tribulations and obstacles of every kind. It is said of him:

From the violence that binds all beings,
The person who overcomes himself is set free—

[ 2 ] that is, the one that develops the higher self within oneself.

[ 3 ] This Thirteenth, known as Humanus, has truly surpassed himself. The greatness and influence of this sage, which we sense and intuit, are further heightened by the fact that—as we shall soon hear—he is on his deathbed, and that he has the final, most beautiful, and greatest gift to bestow upon the Twelve before they enter the higher spiritual realms. And now the “pure fool” is to make his way through. He is to take the place of the Thirteenth. Something like the magic of Good Friday hovers over this fragment. In fact, the whole piece should have been set against the backdrop of Good Friday. Goethe himself explains his poem more or less as follows: There are many creeds in the world, but in all of them we must see the same core of truth. — Goethe hints at this by stating that, out of twelve world religions, he wanted to present one that embodies the common core of truth shared by the Twelve. And the Thirteenth is the very representative of this primal truth. The poem actually describes the theosophical worldview. Goethe seeks to express, through a poetic image, how a synthesis of all religions can lead to peace. When Brother Markus approaches the monastery gate, a cross entwined with roses shines out toward him. Goethe understood the profound significance of this symbol, as is also implied in his verses:

But he is filled with a whole new sense of meaning,
As the image appears before his eyes:
There stands the cross, densely entwined with roses.
Who has placed roses beside the cross?

[ 4 ] These are words of true esoteric meaning.

[ 5 ] Today we will focus on the question: How does one gain insight into the higher worlds according to the Rosicrucians? We will discuss some aspects of the Rosicrucian method. It is one of the paths of knowledge that lead into the supersensible worlds. The term “Rosicrucian” may sound unfamiliar and strange to some. People have heard of the Rosicrucians as a secret brotherhood that first appeared under this name around the 14th century. What can be found about the Rosicrucians in general encyclopedias and other popular literature is of little significance. The Rosicrucians represented a very specific spiritual tradition through a number of highly influential figures. Many publications that have appeared about the Rosicrucians demonstrate how easily one can fall prey to the gravest errors when one believes one is discovering the highest truths. The Rosicrucians were one of the most exclusive secret brotherhoods and had to pass strict trials and arduous tests. Those who wished to be admitted into the Rosicrucian Order had to undergo many trials. A candidate had to undergo a very specific occult training in order to be guided toward self-knowledge. But ignorance can lead one to see a caricature in what is most sublime. Thus, Rosicrucianism, too, was completely misunderstood and distorted into a caricature. What has been written about the Rosicrucians is nothing but charlatanism. Anyone who can properly assess Rosicrucianism will see its true essence. But just how difficult it has always been to gain insight into Rosicrucianism is evident from the fact that Helmont, Leibniz, and others were unable to learn anything about the Rosicrucians. The Rosicrucian initiation is historically traced back to a book from the early 17th century, which states, among other things, that the Rosicrucians were engaged in alchemical matters, as well as other pursuits, such as higher education and so on. This is what is written in the Fama Fraternitatis.

[ 6 ] There is nothing to be found there about what Rosicrucianism truly is, because the secrets of the Rosicrucians have been passed down only through oral tradition. Those who have outwardly adopted the name “Rosicrucians” are hardly suited to fathom the essence of the Rosicrucians. Today we shall now examine the methods of the true Rosicrucians, to the extent that this is possible in public. The Theosophical Movement initially drew upon the Eastern path. The truth is to be found everywhere, provided one knows how to seek it and is ready for it. A different way of thinking, a different way of feeling and willing, a different way of seeing and perceiving once existed among humanity when the ancient Indians received the teachings of the holy Rishis. What was done back then can no longer be carried out today. The methods that were possible in the past are no longer viable today. There is nothing absolute in the world; humanity is in a state of constant evolution. People today have a completely different, more refined brain structure—even a completely different blood composition—than people of that time. That is why all truth must be adapted today, and why the methods of initiation must be arranged in such a way that they are suitable for Europeans today. These are the reasons why Rosicrucianism had to come into being, why a different form of initiation was needed. The Rosicrucian movement is sustained by the great teachers, who have always remained in the background.

[ 7 ] Rosicrucianism comprises seven degrees of initiation. These seven degrees form a unified method through which Europeans are able to pass all the trials they must undergo. These stages are not necessarily completed one after another; rather, the teacher selects, depending on the individuality of each student, what is most suitable for that person.

[ 8 ] The seven stages are study, imagination, inspired insight or the reading of occult texts, the preparation of the Philosopher’s Stone, the correspondence between the microcosm and the macrocosm, living within the macrocosm, and, as the seventh and highest stage, godhood.

[ 9 ] By “study” we mean the acquisition of concepts and ideas that enable people to form sound, comprehensive judgments about essential relationships. For the Rosicrucians, study encompassed everything that we find today in theosophy, once the Eastern trappings have been stripped away. What theosophy offers today is Rosicrucian wisdom. I have also spoken about the Rosicrucian doctrine of the elements in public lectures. The essence of this is to acquire a body of concepts about the world that is self-contained and constitutes a rigorously structured system of thought. A rational system of thought is established here. A Rosicrucian must be a thinking, level-headed person. These teachings are truths that are understandable to the simplest of hearts as well as to the most spiritual of minds. What is the purpose of this study? It leads to a glimpse into the supersensory worlds—first into the astral world, then into the spiritual or devachanic world—those worlds that invisibly surround us all.

[ 10 ] There are as many worlds surrounding human beings as there are abilities they possess to perceive them. Of course, these abilities are initially undeveloped. For someone born blind, a new birth means regaining sight. Similarly, the emergence of every new world is a new birth for human beings. The astral world—which we call by this name for certain reasons—surrounds us, as does the spiritual or devachanic world. It is presumptuous for someone who knows nothing of the higher worlds to claim that they do not exist. Both the astral world and the devachanic world differ vastly from what is visibly present around us in the physical world. We experience entirely new impressions in both the astral and the devachanic worlds. Although perceptions in these worlds are quite different from those in the physical world, logic remains the same. Thinking in all three worlds is the same; it is only in even higher worlds that this, too, changes. Once one has learned to think in one of these three worlds, the laws governing thought in the higher worlds are the same. However, in the physical world, a person’s error is corrected through experience. In those other worlds, this convenient correction does not exist; therefore, one must possess a firm standard of objectivity there. Without this objectivity, you are adrift there! In the ancient initiation, therefore, the guru was necessary. The guru had to, as it were, enter the soul of the one being initiated into Indian yogic wisdom as the highest authority. In Rosicrucian training, this relationship between guru and disciple is replaced by the support of trained thinking. The student himself must be the guide. That is why study is such an important part of the training. Fundamental truths of theosophy are set forth in the writings Truth and Science and The Philosophy of Freedom for both the simplest of hearts and for those striving toward higher realms. When reading these books, one must actively engage inwardly, working out one thought from another.

[ 11 ] The second stage of the Rosicrucian path is imagination. Through a comprehensive method, it takes one’s first step into the higher worlds. The experience of imagination reveals the deeper meaning of Goethe’s words: “Everything transitory is but a parable.”

[ 12 ] When we look at a plant, we can experience through its form and its very nature how true it is that the spirit of the earth, as it were, reveals itself through it in its sorrow and in its joy. It is a great truth that human beings belong to the Earth just as much as a finger belongs to the human body. Human beings are merely a part of the whole, yet they succumb to the illusion of living in isolation. The finger is spared this illusion because it cannot wander about on the human body. If one feels oneself to be a part of the Earth, then one senses not only the poetry but also the truth of Goethe’s words about the Earth Spirit. When a person turns to what the Earth Spirit brings forth on its surface, some plants become to him the tears, and others the smile of the Earth Spirit.

[ 13 ] There was one more thing that was brought to the student’s awareness by every means of instruction. He was told: Look at the calyx of the plant with its reproductive organs, which it chastely turns toward the sun. The sunbeam kisses the interior of the calyx. The plant innocently extends its reproductive organs out into the cosmos. Imagine this in its transformation to a higher level. First, consider the animal and the human being, and see how the human being conceals what the plant holds up to the sun. And then say to yourself: The human being will one day reach a future stage at which all that is base has departed from his organs. At this higher stage, he will present to the sun what today is the calyx in the plant. Then all that is instinctual will be purified, and human individuality will have overcome the nature of desire. In the wisdom of the Rosicrucians, this transformation was called the Grail, the holy chalice.

[ 14 ] Once one has lived within such concepts for a time, one is ready to ascend to even higher experiences. The physical eye sees only the seed in the plant. Through this preparation, the soul is ready to penetrate the image that arises from the seed and in which is revealed that which causes the plant to grow. The image of a flame rising from the seed appears before the soul. In this way, one learns to see the spiritual behind things; one learns to recognize how everything physical is born from a world of the spiritual.

[ 15 ] In Rosicrucian training, the third stage is called the reading of the occult script. The cosmic forces at work in the world reveal themselves through certain currents and combinations of colors and sounds. The structure of this occult script is inscribed into the world. An example of this is the spiral that we see in the outer cosmos in the form of two intertwined vortices in the Orion Nebula. On a microcosmic level, the first incorporation of the human germ takes place in a corresponding form. The image of two intertwined vortices is the zodiac sign of Cancer. In occult writing, it indicates the transition from one stage of development to the next. Indeed, the vernal equinox of the Sun was in the sign of Cancer when, in ancient India, a new epoch of humanity was ushered in following the downfall of Atlantis.

[ 16 ] Another symbol of occult writing is the triangle, which is also inscribed in the macrocosm. On a microcosmic level, the figure of the equilateral triangle with its center marked is the symbol for the balance achieved between the three soul forces. The higher power of love arises from the harmonization of thinking, feeling, and willing.

[ 17 ] This third stage, in which the awareness of inspiration is attained, is followed by the rhythmic harmonization of life and breathing. In the language of the Rosicrucians, this is also referred to as the preparation of the Philosopher’s Stone. This, in turn, anticipates a later general stage of human development. Today, humans need oxygen when they inhale. They exhale carbon dioxide as a toxin. The opposite is true for plants, which inhale carbon dioxide and release oxygen. In the distant future, humans will consciously use the carbon they currently consume through food to build their physical bodies and will no longer exhale it. Then the human physical body will consist of a substance entirely different from what it is today. This will be a transparent, soft form of carbon. The human body itself will then be the philosopher’s stone. The symbol for this is the crystal-clear diamond, which consists of carbon.

[ 18 ] This entire process is prepared through the rhythmic regulation of breathing, as well as of all life processes in general. In plants and animals, these are regulated from the outside. In modern humans, this is no longer the case; instead, they must create for themselves the rhythm that prevails in nature without any intervention by the beings living within it. Strict adherence to such a rhythm constitutes an important part of Rosicrucian training.

[ 19 ] The fifth stage of Rosicrucian training is the one in which the correspondence between the microcosm and the macrocosm is experienced. Paracelsus says: Everything that exists around us in space is related to us. — In the world are the individual letters, and man is the Word. At this stage, it is possible to attune oneself to one’s inner self. Human beings possess within themselves, in miniature and in essence, everything that exists in the world outside. To know oneself in order to know the world is the task set forth at this stage.

[ 20 ] The next, sixth stage calls for a move outward into the macrocosm. Here, a person must renounce themselves and leave everything that belongs to them behind. They now learn to truly recognize the macrocosm.

[ 21 ] The highest level a Rosicrucian can attain is godlikeness. Here, the initiate merges with the entire universe; he experiences the pinnacle of human evolution, as it is destined for humanity in the distant future. The Rosicrucian student directs all his efforts toward preparing for this evolution.

[ 22 ] Within every human being there exists a lower, passive nature and an active element. If a person develops in the manner described, he overcomes his lower nature and is reborn through the spirit. This meaning of human evolution is encapsulated in Goethe’s words:

And as long as you don't have that,
This: Die and Be Reborn!
You are but a gloomy guest
On this dark earth.

[ 23 ] The symbol for “death” is the cross; the symbol for “becoming” is the rose. The human physical body represents the cross. Everything connected with the forces of growth constitutes the passive element in the human being. This includes, in particular, milk. In the blood, on the other hand, the human being striving upward develops an active element. This is the mystery of the white and the red rose. It is the higher human nature that seeks the balance between the white and the red rose. In Goethe’s poem “The Mysteries,” the Thirteenth gives us a picture of the person who has reached this high level. As a motto for all Rosicrucian striving, we can therefore take the words spoken by this Thirteenth:

For all power surges forward into the vastness,
To live and act here and there;
Yet from every side, the current of the world
Restricts and hinders us, sweeping us along,
In this inner storm and outer strife
The spirit hears a word that is hard to understand:
From the power that binds all beings,
The person who overcomes himself is set free.