The Rudolf Steiner Archive

Eleventh Lecture

[ 1 ] We have traced the development of our Earth to the point where we have seen how, following various significant events—characterized by the opening of the seven seals and the sounding of the seven trumpets—the Earth will in the future transition into a kind of spiritual state along with all its beings. The only exceptions will be those who refused to accept the Christ principle, whereby we must understand “refusal” strictly in the sense of an energetic, malicious, and unintelligent spiritual opposition. Of course, once the Earth has assumed its astral, its spiritual form, even these beings will not be able to exist in a coarse material, let us say, earthly substance; rather, they too will transition into astral forms for the period following the sounding of the trumpets—the period we have characterized by the pouring out of the bowls of wrath— but their nature, which has become more base—that which is inherent in them because they have not assimilated the Christ principle—will manifest in the astral realm in such a way that they will essentially take on that animal form which we have characterized as the beast with seven heads and ten horns.

[ 2 ] Now, from everything that has been said, you have been able to understand the relationship between what we call “heads” and what we call “horns.” But there is still a question that will, so to speak, weigh on your mind: Why is it that precisely what appears in the physical body as this or that organ is actually called a “horn”? Why are the physical organs and their remnants in the astral realm—once the Earth has become astral—referred to as “horns”? — It is, of course, easy to understand that those human beings who have not taken the Christ principle into themselves must fall back into the state in which humanity existed before it could partake of the Christ principle. Humanity was previously a non-individual being with a group soul, and we have seen that throughout the first four epochs of the Atlantean period, it was endowed with group souls that are symbolically represented by the head of a bull, the head of a lion, the head of an eagle, and the human head—the latter of which we must imagine as the ‘head of a beast-man.’ We must therefore certainly consider that, when the human being reappears on the spiritualized Earth and has left the Christ Principle unused during our epoch, he will then—precisely because he has contributed nothing toward elevating his former animal group-soul nature—reappear in the old form, and not only in this form, but with three additional heads that he has acquired during the later epochs. Before the great flood of Atlantis struck, three further epochs had indeed followed the first four. During these three epochs, those who later embraced the Christ principle also possessed, in a certain sense, the capacity to incorporate three additional group-soul heads within themselves; but they transformed them, elevating the animal nature within the human being to a higher level. They will appear in a spiritualized form when the Earth is spiritualized. The others, who rejected the Christ principle, will appear with seven heads, because there were seven periods during which the animal nature was developed before the Flood. And because dual gender prevailed during the last three Atlantean epochs—in contrast to the first four—each head, so to speak, appears with two possibilities leading toward the animal nature—the male and the female—so that each head for these last three epochs appears with two horns; thus, the human being as a whole appears with ten horns.

[ 3 ] Now someone might say: I understand well enough that those people who do nothing to shed the form they have and elevate it to the human level will reappear in animal form, but I don’t understand why we speak of horns. It is easy to understand why one speaks of heads, but why of horns? — Now I will explain why one not only speaks of horns but must speak of them. The expression is not to be understood merely symbolically; it is reality. In fact, people who fail to take in the Christ principle within themselves will indeed appear in astral form. But because they have shaped their instincts in such a way that they have, so to speak, clung to the animal group soul, the corresponding instincts appear in the astral body that these people will then possess, in the form of horn-like protrusions. It is a real form.

[ 4 ] I will explain this using an organ as an example: how it comes to be that a person who does not take in the Christ principle will, in fact, appear with horns when the Earth has become spiritualized. Consider the human larynx and the trachea. You are constantly inhaling and exhaling air through this trachea. This is an activity that human beings perform. In a person who is spiritualizing, this activity serves the spiritual realm; but in a person who does not align themselves with the Christ principle, it is connected to the ancient forces associated with the seven heads. Let us therefore illustrate this schematically as follows:

[ 5 ] Air constantly flows in from the outside through the larynx. But you know that the human astral body surrounds the person. The stream of air that enters will always be connected to the astral. When the Earth becomes spiritualized, it will become evident whether a person’s breathing was a servant of the Christ principle or a servant of the lower forces that existed in the world even before the Christ principle. If it was a servant of the Christ principle, then it loses the form that is adapted to the present body. The human being then has the power to transform everything that is astral into a higher, spiritualized form. If he does not embrace the Christ Principle, he is unable to extract from the present physical form that which is adapted to it. And the consequence of this is that, after the physical body has fallen away and disappeared, after the physical larynx has departed, this form of the astral body remains—the one that continually inserts itself into the larynx with the breath. This form remains in the shape of a horn. Wherever the outer astral forces enter and exit the human being, they remain adapted to the previous animal form when the human being passes into the astral form; that is to say, the human being then appears with true astral horns. These are real astral forms; they correspond exactly to the penetration of astral substance during earthly life. The fact is that these images do not present us with arbitrary symbols, but rather take on the true form of what will one day appear. This is what must be understood.

[ 6 ] Now, based on what we have recently examined—based on that somewhat unsettling diagram with its many numbers—let us determine where we stand in the development of the world. We are well aware that the 49 major forms of transformation of Saturn are over—the seven life forms of Saturn, which are also called “rounds” in theosophical books, each with seven states of form, or “globes”—and that the 49 corresponding solar states and the 49 lunar states are also over. Humanity has passed through these in its development to date—a total of 147 states. Added to these are the states that humanity has already undergone during our Earth’s evolution. The first three kingdoms of life—also called the first three rounds—are now behind us. We live in the fourth kingdom of life, in the fourth round. Since each such round in turn comprises seven states of form, we have completed 3 times 7 states during the first three rounds. Thus, 21 are added to the 147. We have not yet completed the fourth kingdom of life, but we have a portion of it behind us. We have completed the first three states of form: the nearly formless spiritual state (or arupa state), the rupa state, and the astral state. We are currently in the physical state. Thus, 3 are added to the 147 plus 21. We have therefore completed 171 states of form out of the 343 associated with the seven planets.

[ 7 ] Above all, you must bear in mind that we are now in the 172nd state of form, which is the physical Earth. It has already gone through 171 states. During this 172nd state, everything we have described took place. When this state began, the Earth was connected to the Sun and the Moon. During this state, the Sun and the Moon separated from the Earth, and after the Sun and the Moon had separated, humankind appeared on the physical Earth as we know it today. And then began the Atlantean era, of which we have spoken, and we have said: This period, which is the 172nd, must be subdivided into seven periods. — The first lies far in the past; at the beginning, the Sun was still near the Earth. Somewhat inaccurately, people have come to call this period the “Polar race.” It is almost impossible to form a conception of this one. Then, during the Sun’s departure, came the Hyperborean race; then, during the Moon’s departure, a third, the so-called Lemurian human race. These are three states, and the fourth within this 172nd state is the Atlantean race. The fifth race is the one in which we ourselves live. The Great Atlantean Flood occurred after the fourth race. After our own race comes the one described in the Book of Revelation through the seven seals, and then the one described through the seven trumpets.

[ 8 ] Now we know that each of these periods is further divided into seven, for we have our own, the fifth, within the 172nd form of existence, divided into the ancient Indian, ancient Persian, Chaldean-Babylonian-Assyrian-Egyptian-Jewish, the Greek-Latin, our own, a sixth, and a seventh cultural epoch. Then follows the great war of all against all. What comes after the great war is again divided into seven parts, expressed by the seven seals, and that which is expressed by the seven trumpets is in turn divided into seven parts.

[ 9 ] If you now consider that 171 future states of form must be added to those that have already passed, you get 342; add one more—the present one—and that makes 343, but we are living right in the middle of this one; it stands at the center. Now someone might say: It is actually a truly wonderful thing that we are fortunate enough to live right in the middle of world history. — Indeed, to many who do not think about it any further, it must seem like a strange fact that we live right in the midst of this development. Yes, for those who fully understand the matter, it is not strange at all. It is no more remarkable than when someone standing in an open field in flat country, where they can see equally far in front and behind, finds themselves at the center of their field of vision. If they walk a little further, they can again see equally far in front and behind. Entirely different conditions in the world’s development would arise if we were to stand at a different point. We are always in the middle. A person can always see an equal distance both behind and ahead, even with the most clairvoyant faculties. Something else might perhaps be striking. Someone might say: How is it that you don’t tell us that, by the way, we are also exactly in the middle? For now it no longer holds true. We are currently in the 172nd form state. The exact center would be in the fourth period of that state, but we are in the fifth—that is, slightly outside the center. So it is not exactly true that we are really in the center. — There is a peculiar fact underlying this. You can understand it by making a comparison. If you grasp it precisely, you will see that this is an important fact. It is truly the case: With regard to the major principal states—the states of form—we are in the middle, but with regard to those states that concern us most directly, we are slightly beyond the middle. Why is that so?

[ 10 ] Imagine for a moment that you were traveling along a railroad track in a completely flat area and were able to ride not in a regular train car, but in a car specially designed for you—one that would give you an unobstructed view in all directions. Let’s assume you were able to do this for a long time. You would truly have an unobstructed view, and if at any point during your journey you could very quickly form a mental image of the entire surroundings, that image would be a complete circle. There is only one situation in which this would not be the case. Imagine you are sitting in the moving train and staring at the scene before you. At that very moment when you’re staring at it, you fall asleep and ride on asleep for a while; and while you’re asleep, you’re unaware of how the view changes over a certain distance. You wake up, and the moment you wake up, you quickly recall the image you had been staring at before. Now it doesn’t match, and the reason for this is that you slept through a certain stretch of time. Now your image does not coincide with the view, which is the same in all directions, because there is a section that you slept through.

[ 11 ] Now let us ask: Is it really true that humankind has been asleep from the midpoint of its evolution right up to the present day? — We might be able to understand that the picture had to be completely accurate up to that point; now that we have moved beyond the midpoint, if we had been asleep, it would be possible that the picture has shifted somewhat. Has humanity been asleep? In the occult sense, humanity has been asleep since the middle of the Atlantean epoch, because that is the time when the entire human race as such lost its ancient, twilight-like clairvoyance. People sink into a state of sleep, as it were, with regard to the spiritual. They begin to direct their gaze toward the sensory world and thus enter a state of sleep with regard to the spiritual world. And only when human beings have regained clairvoyance will they, so to speak, have a clear view in all directions. There will no longer be this shift in evolution; the distance will appear the same both forward and backward. In fact, since the middle of the Atlantean epoch, humanity has been asleep in that it has not participated in the perception of the spiritual worlds as ordinary human beings. If we set aside the initiates or, for that matter, the somnambulists, we must say: People do not see, for “to see” means to truly look into the world. — Humanity sleeps in relation to the spiritual world, and it will continue to sleep for some time yet. Since that Atlantean era, the saying from the Gospel of John has held true: “And the light shone in the darkness, but the darkness did not comprehend it.”

[ 12 ] Thus, this classification does indeed conceal an important truth: the truth that humanity is living in a dark age, the Age of Darkness. And the Christ principle was brought into this age so that humanity might be led out into the Age of Light. That is why I was right to place the current stage of development not at the center, but behind the center, because in Atlantis the Age of Darkness begins, extending into the sixth age, up to the point where the chosen company appears in white robes, where this company appears as the first to be able once again to have the spiritual world around them under ordinary, normal conditions. Then the period of darkness will have come to an end, and the period will dawn of which it must be said: “The light shines into the darkness, and the darkness does not comprehend the light.” The Dark Age is therefore also called the time in which human beings direct their gaze solely toward the physical-material world and, in their normal state, do not perceive the spiritual world behind it.

[ 13 ] But now let us return to what we have said about evolution. When evolution has progressed beyond the seventh period—the time signaled by the sounds of the trumpets—the Earth will become spiritualized, and it will first pass into the astral realm, then into the Devachanic realm, and finally into the finer Devachanic state. And it then returns to those same states, becoming increasingly denser as it moves away from the finest spiritual realm and enters the state commonly referred to in theosophical handbooks as the fifth round, which in turn will have seven states of form and, in the middle, must again be characterized by such a development of seven successive—let us say—racial states.

[ 14 ] Now, even if it proves difficult, let us delve a little into the next stages of our Earth’s evolution. Let us focus on a very specific point in our future evolution, just as we have focused on our present point. Let us once again consider our current stage of development, beginning with our present 172nd stage. From this 172nd stage, the Earth has already passed through three sub-stages. The 172nd stage is the physical form stage—the Earth itself. It has already passed through three [form stages]. It is now in the fourth of these stages. So let us first consider only the states of form [of the Earth]. We reckon that we are in the fourth kingdom of life or the fourth round. We take this as a given and say: From this fourth round, from this fourth kingdom of life, we have passed through three states of form, and we are in the fourth of these states of form. Let us now ask ourselves further: How many of the sub-states have we passed through? The first, second, third, and fourth. The last was the Atlantean era. This last era of development—the Atlantean era—is thus complete. We say: We have gone through four states and are now in the fifth. Of this fifth state, we have in turn gone through four sub-states, namely the ancient Indian, ancient Persian, Egyptian, and Greco-Latin. We are now in the fifth. So we say: Before our immediate present stage of development, we completed 3, 4, 4 states. These 3, 4, 4 states that we have completed are referred to in the language of the Apocalyptic as the number of development. So if one asks: What is the number of evolution, of our evolution? — then the answer is: This number of our evolution is “344” (read as three, four, four). — It is read not in the decimal system, but in the septimal system. Three stages out of seven have been passed through, four stages out of the next, smaller set of seven have been passed through, and four stages out of yet another set of seven smaller ones have been passed through. That is what “344” actually means. It should not be simply read like other numbers; rather, written side by side, it contains the number of stages that have been passed through.

[ 15 ] Now let us consider the following: Once the Earth has become spiritualized and evolved into its next states, more and more stages will have been passed through. And a time must eventually come when the following will have been passed through: 6 states of the first kind, 6 of the second, and 6 of the third. Just as we now have the number 344 as the number of evolution, so too must the number “666” (read as six, six, six) apply at some point in the future—when 6 kingdoms of life or cycles, 6 main races, and 6 subraces have been passed through—though this is not the literal reading; rather, it is the correct way the Apocalyptic writer chose to write it. So there will come a time when the number “666” is the number of evolution. This will not happen until a very distant future, but that future is already being prepared in our time. After three major states [major races] have been passed through, we are now living in the fourth. But when the time has passed that is marked by the seven seals following the great war of all against all—when we have arrived [at the age of the seven trumpets]—then we will have gone through six of these intermediate stages. When the first trumpet sounds, we will have gone through 6 such major stages, and when we then move on into the time of the trumpet blasts and the periods marked by the first six trumpets have passed, then we will have experienced “66.” By then, humanity will have had time to prepare for the dreadful moment that will follow much later—namely, when not only 66 but “666” will be reached.

[ 16 ] Everything that is to come is already being prepared in the present. The time that will follow the great war of all against all—the time of the seventh trumpet—will see people who, by excluding themselves from the Christ principle, will have attained a high degree of wickedness and a predisposition to sink into the abyss. By then, these people will have ensured that, when the time of 666 comes, they will be able to descend quite deeply into evil, into the abyss. People will already have absorbed within themselves the predisposition for this descent into the abyss in the distant future, following the Great War of All Against All, in the Age [of the Trumpets], when the seventh trumpet sounds. It will, however, still be possible for a long time for those who have then taken on this predisposition to turn back, to repent, and to retrace their steps in their development so that they may still embrace the Christ principle. But the initial predisposition has been established, and those who remain with this predisposition will, when that distant future arrives—a future signified not by 466 but by 666—no longer be able to transform this predisposition into a good one. They will succumb to that terrible fate of which we are yet to speak.

[ 17 ] Thus we see that something dire for the development of humanity is linked to this number six, whether it appears once, twice, or three times. We are living in the fifth main period and the fifth subperiod. We will live on into the sixth period after the great war. But before the great war comes, the sixth subperiod—characterized by the Church of Philadelphia—will follow immediately after our fifth subperiod. Now we know that today is the time in which materialism has spread throughout humanity. We have seen how, over the centuries, people have become increasingly materialistic, but this materialism is such that a turnaround is possible at any time. The materialistic person still has time today to turn back. Therefore, a spiritual worldview must also take hold in our present age—that worldview which leads a small group of people toward this very occult, spiritual understanding of the world. Those who will establish the great brotherhood in its initial form during the sixth epoch—which will follow our own time and is not so far off, its beginning lying in a time measured only in millennia—will bring about the very first division among humanity. Those who stubbornly cling to materialism, as well as those who will be inclined to embrace a spiritual perspective—those who form the Brotherhood within this small group—both will already appear in our sixth period. This simple “6” may already prove fateful for many people, but not irrevocably so, for repentance will still be possible even then. But people will survive the great war of all against all. [The Age of the Seven Seals and] the five periods [of the Age of the Trumpets] will pass, and the number six will return. Afterward, the temptations and seductions will return once more to further develop the materialistic disposition, carrying it over into the time of the trumpet sounds; and when 6 major and 6 additional minor periods have elapsed—after 66—there will already be very significant tendencies present in humanity that are not as easily remedied as ours.

[ 18 ] Thus we see that, in fact, the world of evil inclinations is exerting an ever-greater influence within humanity, and that good people are separating themselves from the wicked—in the sense described by the apocalyptic writer—in an ever clearer and more stark manner. The final great separation will occur when the number six is fulfilled—not only for the shorter periods but also for the longer ones. This will be the case when our Earth has completed its six kingdoms of life, or six cycles, and, within the seventh cycle, six states of form. Once it has completed this, humanity’s predispositions toward evil will have developed into a terrible form. With terrifyingly devastating force, evil will then manifest only in those who have remained evil.

[ 19 ] So we ask ourselves: How often does humanity have the opportunity to succumb to the temptation toward evil within our Earth? — First, during the period that follows our own, before the Great War. Then it has a second and a third opportunity to do so. Thus, this descent into evil develops gradually. As for the period when the Earth first transitioned into a spiritual state, we are initially faced with two possibilities. When the Earth has once again united with the Sun, those who have taken the Christ principle into themselves will be ready to merge into the forces of the Earth that are uniting with the Sun; those who have taken the potential for evil into themselves will be excluded. These are, as it were, such that they repel the Sun; they reject that which would enable them to unite with the forces of the Sun. They are the opponents of union with the Sun. That is why the apocalyptic writer designates that power, that being, which leads human beings to spiritualize themselves in such a way that they can unite with the sun, as the Christ in the very truest sense, and, as we shall hear, as the Lamb. The Christ-being is described as the Genius of the Sun, who unites with the Earth and also becomes the Genius of the Earth. He has already begun to become this since the event at Golgotha.

[ 20 ] But there is also a principle opposed to this Lamb: there is also a sun demon, the so-called “demonium of the sun,” which acts within the evil forces of human beings, repelling the power of the Lamb. And it works in such a way that a certain portion of the human race is cast out of the evolution leading to the Sun. These are the opposing forces of the Sun, which stand in opposition to the Sun. At the same time, these are the forces that are destined, once the 666 stages of development have passed, to be completely cast out of our evolution; they will then be definitively cast into the abyss. So we must say: In that time when the Earth is united with the Sun, not only will that which is symbolized by the beast with seven heads and ten horns be cast out, but also that which is endowed with forces that are opposed to the Sun. All of this is destined to vanish into the abyss when the 666 is fulfilled.

[ 21 ] Now, this number 666 has always been recorded in a very mysterious way. We shall see that there is every reason to shroud these facts, which we are now discussing, in the mystery of secrets; there is every reason to do so. And because that is the case, they were shrouded in such mystery, and 666 was written. In the mysteries from which the Apocalyptic writer received his initiation, 400 200 6 60 was written. This is written in such a way that the layperson cannot recognize it. This 666 has been concealed; it was meant to be kept as a secret, as you see here: 400 200 6 60. And by rearranging everything, an illusion is created. Now, there is a certain principle in the writings of the initiates that consists of expressing letters through corresponding numbers. Some of the peculiar individuals who, in the course of the nineteenth century, sought to unveil the secret of the number 666 stumbled upon this principle; but given the way they arrived at it, one might say: they heard the bells ringing, but did not hear them clanging together. For they have appropriated, in an imprecise manner, what I have now explained to you here and what has always been taught esoterically. They found that if one substitutes Hebrew letters for these numbers, one gets “Nero”; they therefore concluded that 666 means Nero.

[ 22 ] That is not the case. 666 must first be written as follows: 400 200 6 60; only then can you figure out what it represents. Then you must write: 400 as, 200 as, 6 as, and 60 as D. These four letters represent the four numbers 400, 200, 6, and 60. You have been drawn into this mystery in a marvelous way—marvelous because of the insight of those who drew you in—because at the same time, these four letters, as sounds, also had a very special occult meaning. Just think for a moment: what must the number 666 actually mean if it is to express what we have described? It must signify the principle that leads a person to complete hardening in their outer physical life, so that they actively reject what enables them to shed the lower principles and ascend to the higher ones. What the human being has received in terms of the physical body, the etheric body, the astral body, and the lower ego—before it rises to the higher—these four principles are simultaneously expressed by these four letters: the Samech represents the physical body, the Waw the etheric body, the Resh the astral body, and the Tav the lower ego. Thus we see that the hardened aspect of these four principles, before they begin their divine development, is expressed by the four letters. The apocalyptic writer can truly say, “Here is wisdom!” for wisdom is contained within it. “Let him who has understanding calculate the number—the number 666!”

[ 23 ] And now let's read it. You read it like this—backwards, of course:

[ 24 ] Then one must add the vowels, and it reads “Sorat.” Sorat is the name of the sun demon, the adversary of the Lamb. And each such spiritual being has been designated not only by its name, but also by a very specific symbol, a symbolic sign. For Sorat, the Sun Demon, this sign was:

[ 25 ] a thick line that curves back on itself and has two curved tips at the front.

[ 26 ] But now we must understand the author of the Apocalypse correctly. Right at the beginning, he uses a strange word that is usually mistranslated. The opening of the Apocalypse reads: “This is the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place, and he set it forth in symbols and gave it to us through his angel to the servant, John.” “Set forth in symbols”: so we must be prepared for the fact that he expresses the important, the actual content of the mystery in symbols. He has expressed what 666 signifies in symbols. What he describes is the symbol, and he describes it as follows (Chapter 13:11): “And I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, which had two horns like a lamb.” These are nothing other than the two lines at the top of the drawing, and to conceal this, he simply calls the two lines here “horns.” It has always been the practice in the language of the mysteries to use a word ambiguously so as not to give the uninitiated the opportunity to understand the matter so readily. So what he describes here—“it had two horns like a lamb”—is the sign of the sun demon, which in the language of the mysteries is expressed by the word “Sorat,” and which, if we substitute the numerical values of the individual letters, is represented by the four numbers 400, 200, 6, and 60. This amounts to 666 in a highly veiled form of expression.

[ 27 ] Thus we see that the author of the Apocalypse points to the adversary of the Lamb. Below, where the earthly realm transitions into the spiritual, human figures appear in such a way that they retain their former animal forms. The beast with the seven heads and ten horns appears, but so does its seducer—the adversary of Christ—who possesses the great power to prevent them from returning to the sun. Human beings themselves cannot be adversaries of Christ; they can only, so to speak, fail to take in the Christ principle within themselves because of the false power within them. But there is such an adversary: the solar demon. It appears as soon as there is something that can fall prey to it. Before the prey is there—before human beings with the seven heads and ten horns are present—there is nothing to seduce, and the seducer has no business being there. But then, when a human being with such dispositions appears, the seducer comes. And he appears as the second of the beasts and seduces.

[ 28 ] At the very moment, then, when the Earth passes into the astral state, that which was present in human beings when the Earth was still enveloped in a shell of water appears. It rises up into the human-animal. Out of the water, one sees the beast with seven heads and ten horns rising up. The fact that this beast has been left unused by the Earth means that Sorat—the adversary of the Sun, the tempter—can now rise from the Earth; thereby he can draw near to humanity and drag it down into the abyss with all his might. Thus, from this point onward, we see a being clinging to humanity that possesses terrible power. What, then, does this being do to lead people into such horrifying things as we can only imagine? To tempt people into mere immorality—into what they already know as ordinary human beings—there would be no need for this monster, which appears as a sun demon. Only when that which, in the best sense, distinguishes the beings who bring salvation to the human race—only when spiritual elevation is transformed into its opposite, when spiritual power is placed in the service of the lower ego-principle—only then can it lead humanity to the point where the beast, depicted with two horns, gains power over them. The misuse of spiritual powers is connected to the seductive power of the beast with two horns. And we call this misuse of spiritual power “black magic,” in contrast to its proper use, which we call “white magic.”

[ 29 ] Thus, by dividing itself, the human race will prepare itself, on the one hand, to enter into ever more spiritual states and thereby to begin using spiritual powers—to enter into white magic— and on the other hand, those who abuse spiritual powers will prepare themselves for the wildest power of the two-horned beast: black magic. Ultimately, humanity will split into those who practice white magic and those who practice black magic. Thus, the mystery of 666, or Sorat, conceals the mystery of black magic. And the tempter toward black magic—that most terrible crime in Earth’s evolution, to which no other crime can be compared—is represented by the apocalyptic writer as the two-horned beast. Thus, so to speak, the division of humanity in the distant future comes into view: the chosen ones of Christ, who will ultimately become the white magicians, and the adversaries, the wild sorcerers, the black magicians, who cannot detach themselves from matter and whom the Apocalyptic writer depicts as those who commit fornication with matter. Therefore, this entire activity of black magic—everything that arises as a “marriage” between humanity and the hardening of matter—is brought before his inner eye in the great Babylon, in the community that unites all those who practice black magic, in the terrible marriage—or rather, the wild union—between humanity and the forces of fallen matter.

[ 30 ] And so, in a distant future, we see two forces facing off against one another: on the one hand, those who sail into the population of the great Babylon, and on the other, those who rise above matter, uniting as human beings with what is presented as the principle of the Lamb. We see how, on the one hand, the blackest elements separate themselves within Babylon, led by all the forces opposed to the sun, by Sorat, the two-horned beast; and we see humanity—which has developed from the chosen ones—uniting with the Christ who appears to them, the Lamb: the Wedding of the Lamb on one side, and that of Babylon—the setting Babylon—on the other. And we see Babylon sinking into the abyss, and the Chosen Ones, who have celebrated the Wedding with the Lamb, rising to master the forces of white magic. And because they not only recognize the spiritual forces but also know how to wield these spiritual forces magically, they can prepare what they have on Earth for the next planetary incarnation, Jupiter. They are, so to speak, drawing the grand blueprints that Jupiter is to have. We see emerging from the power of the white magicians the preparatory forms that are to live on as the forms of the next earthly incarnation, Jupiter: we see the New Jerusalem rising from white magic.

[ 31 ] But first, that which is characterized by Sorat, 666, must be cast out. That which has fallen prey to the principle of the two-horned beast and has therefore hardened into the beast with seven heads and ten horns is cast out. The power through which the Solar Genius overcomes these outcasts—driving them down into the abyss—is called the face of the Solar Genius. And the face of the Solar Genius is Michael, who, as it were, acting as the Solar Genius’s representative, overcomes the beast with the two horns, the deceiver, who is also called the great dragon. This is depicted by the image that appears to the seer of Michael, who holds the key to the abyss and the chain in his hand, who stands before God and keeps the opposing forces bound. Thus, in Christian-Rosicrucian esotericism, the casting out of those who belong to 666 and the overcoming of the dragon, the deceiver, are characterized. Thus, what the apocalyptic writer shrouded in mystery—what must first be brought to light through revelation—now appears before our eyes, and of which he says: “Here is wisdom! Let anyone with understanding calculate the number of the beast”—that is, the two-horned beast—“for this number is 666” (Revelation 13:18).

[ 32 ] Those who have applied this to Nero have poorly fulfilled the apocalyptic writer’s call. For you can see from what depths of the world’s explanation the wisdom leading to the number 666 must be drawn. Even if you had to exert yourselves today to rise to the level of characterizing this moment, you must not forget that effort is part of understanding the deepest mysteries. And the apocalyptic writer has embedded these deepest mysteries of world development within it. He has veiled them, for it is good for humanity when the most important mysteries are expressed in symbols. For, apart from everything else: through the very efforts exerted to unveil these symbols, much is achieved that simultaneously lifts us up toward the good forces themselves. So let us not be disheartened that we have had to work our way through a numerical scheme. If, in the ancient schools, you had been required to grasp what was secretly taught through such numbers before anything further was given, then you would have learned much more. There, the students had to remain silent for a long time and listen quietly as a series of numbers—777, 666, and so on—were explained to them over and over again, initially in their formal meaning. And only after they had grasped this meaning were they allowed to recognize the actual substance.