The Rudolf Steiner Archive

Twelfth Lecture

[ 1 ] Today we would like to discuss a few things from a deeply occult realm; our topic for today, as strange as it may sound at first, will be: “Mephistopheles and Earthquakes.” We shall see that it is not only the Mephistopheles problem that sheds light on a deeply occult realm, but also the question of earthquakes, when it is to be discussed from a spiritual standpoint. After all, I have spoken in various places—and here as well—about the Earth’s interior, thereby also touching on the question of earthquakes. Today we want to look at the matter from another angle, and a connection will then emerge between what we have to say today—in particular, the culmination of this lecture—and what has already been said in earlier lectures on the Earth’s interior with regard to these extraordinarily tragic events on our Earth’s surface.

[ 2 ] You are all familiar with the figure of Mephistopheles—the one we will be focusing on today—from Goethe’s Faust. You know that the figure of Mephistopheles is a spiritual entity. We do not wish to delve further today into the extent to which this poetic portrayal corresponds to occult realities. You know that in Goethe’s Faust, this figure appears to us as the seducer and tempter of Faust, who, in a certain sense, may be understood as the archetype of the human being striving for the heights of life, and I have also pointed out in my lectures on Goethe the spiritual perspective opened up by the scene of the “Journey to the Mothers,” where Mephistopheles holds the key to unlocking a realm leading into dark depths where the “Mothers” dwell. Mephistopheles himself cannot enter this realm. He merely points out that it is a realm where below is the same as above: “Sink down, then! I could also say: rise!” Both would mean the same thing for this mysterious realm. We also know that Mephistopheles describes this realm as one for which he uses the word “nothingness.” In a certain sense, then, he embodies the spirit that perceives this realm—which is nothing to him—as worthless. Faust responds to this as, for example, a spiritually seeking person might still respond today to a materialist: “In your nothingness, I hope to find the universe!”

[ 3 ] Goethe scholars—yes, there are such scholars—have made the most diverse efforts to unravel this figure. In other lectures as well, I have already pointed out that, fundamentally, the meaning of the name “Mephistopheles” is simply to be found in Hebrew, where mephiz means “the hindrer, the corrupter” and tophel means “the liar,” so that we must understand the name as referring to a being composed, on the one hand, of a bringer of ruin and obstacles for humanity, and, on the other hand, of a spirit of untruth, deception, and illusion.

[ 4 ] Anyone who thoughtfully follows the introduction to Goethe’s Faust—the prologue in heaven—will notice how a word resonates there that, so to speak, stretches back over millennia. Goethe incorporated into the opening of his Faust the words exchanged between God and Job from the Book of Job. You need only read the Book of Job to see how Job lives as a righteous, good, and devout man; how the sons of the God of Light gather before God, and among them appears a certain enemy of the Light; and how a conversation unfolds between the enemy of the Light and the Most High God, in which this enemy of the Light says, he had roamed the lands, seeking various things and trying various things. Then God asks him: “Do you know My servant, Job?” And the enemy of the Light—let us call him that for now—says to God: “I know him, and I would certainly be able to lead him astray from the path of goodness and to corrupt him.” And you know, of course, how this spirit must try twice to get to Job, and how he finally succeeds by corrupting his outer, physical body. He makes this explicitly clear by saying to God: “He will not fall away if you take away his possessions, but if you strike his flesh and his leg, then he will fall away!” Who would not want to hear an echo of this in the words of Faust, where God calls out to Mephistopheles in heaven in the prologue: “Do you know Faust? … My servant!” - And then one can almost hear the spirit’s rebuttation echoing once more—the spirit who, in accordance with the Book of Job, once stood up to God—when Mephistopheles says: He could “gently guide” Faust along his path; he could lead him astray from the paths that lead into the world called “the good one.” So here we can literally hear the sounds of millennia coming together in harmony.

[ 5 ] Perhaps you have often asked yourself, when the figure of Mephistopheles has approached you: Who, exactly, is this Mephistopheles? And here, serious mistakes are made—mistakes that can, however, only be corrected through a deeper occult insight. That Mephistopheles may be associated with the Devil or with the concept of the Devil is already implied by the name itself; for the word “tophel” is the same as “the Devil.” But the other question is this, and here we enter a realm of serious errors that are often made in the interpretation of the figure of Mephistopheles: May Mephistopheles be equated with the spirit we call Lucifer—of whom we have often spoken in the history of human evolution, who approached humanity with his hosts during the Lemurian epoch and thereafter, and who, in a certain sense, intervened in human development? In Europe, there is a strong tendency to equate the figure of Mephistopheles—as he appears in Goethe’s Faust, but also as he has appeared in all the various works of folk literature in which he already features and which preceded Goethe’s Faust—in folk plays, puppet shows, and so on—with Lucifer. We encounter the figure of Mephistopheles everywhere, and the question is this: Are the figure of Mephistopheles and his companions the same as that figure and his companions whom we know as Lucifer? In other words: Is what approaches human beings through Mephistophelean influence the same as what approached human beings through Luciferic influence? We must ask ourselves this question today.

[ 6 ] We know, of course, when Lucifer approached humankind. We have traced the evolution of humankind on Earth through the period in which the Sun, along with its beings, separated from the Earth, and in which the Moon then separated from the Earth, carrying with it those forces that would have made it impossible for humankind to progress further. And we have seen that at a time when humanity was not yet ready to allow independence to enter its astral body, Lucifer, with his hosts, approached humanity, and thus a twofold influence came upon humanity. It was toward the end of the Lemurian epoch that human beings were indeed exposed in their astral bodies to the influences emanating from Lucifer. If Lucifer had not approached human beings, they would have been spared certain harms, but they also would not have attained what we must count among humanity’s highest goods.

[ 7 ] We can now understand the significance of Lucifer’s influence by asking ourselves what would have happened if there had been no Luciferic influence since the Lemurian period, if humanity had developed in such a way that Lucifer and the beings associated with him had remained distant from humanity. Then humanity would have developed in such a way that, well into the middle of the Atlantean epoch, it would have remained a being that, in all the impulses of the astral body and in all the motives of the astral body, would have followed the influences of certain spiritual beings standing above humanity, who, through their influence, would have guided humanity well into the middle of the Atlantean epoch. Only much, much later would human beings have directed their powers of perception and cognition toward the sensory world, so that during the Lemurian and early Atlantean periods, no passions or nor desires, and human beings would have stood, so to speak, innocently before the sensory world, following in all they did the impulses implanted in them by higher spiritual beings. It would not have been an instinct, like the instinct of today’s higher animals, under which human beings would have undertaken everything, but rather a spiritualized instinct. In every action he would have performed on Earth, he would not have been driven by mere sensual impulses, but by something spiritually instinctive. But as it is, under the influence of Lucifer, human beings came to say at an earlier stage: “This gives me joy, this attracts me, this repels me!”—They came to follow their own impulses earlier than usual, to become independent beings, and to develop a certain freedom within themselves. This led to a certain detachment from the spiritual world for human beings. One could say, to put it plainly: Without this influence of Lucifer, human beings would have remained spiritualized animals—animals that would have gradually developed in form, even in a nobler and more beautiful form than human beings have developed under the influence of Lucifer. Humanity would have remained much more angelic had this influence of Lucifer not occurred during the Lemurian epoch. But on the other hand, humanity would have been guided by the higher beings as if by a tether. In the middle of the Atlantean period, something would have come upon humanity as if in a single stroke: its eyes would have been fully opened, and it would have had spread out before it the tapestry of the entire physical-sensory world; but it would have perceived this world in such a way that behind every physical thing it would immediately have perceived a divine-spiritual reality—a world of divine-spiritual foundations. Thus, whereas up to that point, if a person had looked back at his dependence on the divine bosom from which he had emerged, he would have beheld the light deities acting upon him and shining into his soul—those who guide and lead him—a new state would then have dawned for him: —this is not merely a figure of speech, but corresponds to reality to a higher degree—the full, clearly discernible sensory world would have spread out before him. But this sensory world would have appeared as a transparent veil, behind which the other divine-spiritual beings would have appeared, taking the place of what the human being had lost behind him. A spiritual world would have closed behind him, and a new spiritual world would have opened up before him. Human beings would have remained like children in the hands of higher, spiritual-divine beings. Independence would not have taken root in the human soul.

[ 8 ] That is not how it actually happened; rather, it was Lucifer who first approached humankind, and Lucifer, so to speak, made a part of the spiritual world standing behind humankind invisible to that person. For as a person’s own passions, instincts, and desires arose within the astral body, they obscured the spiritual beings of that world—the world from which the person was born—who stood behind the person and would otherwise have remained visible. That is why, in those great oracle sites I spoke of last time, the ancient Atlantean initiates had prepared themselves precisely to see that part of the spiritual world which had been obscured by the influence of Lucifer. All the preparations made by the guardians and students of the ancient oracles of the Atlantean mysteries were aimed at looking into this luminous spiritual world, which had been concealed from human beings by the Luciferic influence on the human astral body. And there they appeared—those beings whom human beings observe in the various states of the soul that run parallel to initiation, who reach into our world from a world of light, and who then clothe themselves in the form that the astral world can provide. There, in the ancient oracles, the Atlantean initiate beheld in spirit those figures who were rightly higher spiritual beings to him—beings who had not descended as far as the physical world and who, therefore, when humanity prematurely entered the physical world, remained invisible to the ordinary eye. But it could not be otherwise than that Lucifer himself, since he was, so to speak, an adversary of these worlds of light, also became visible to the initiates. Lucifer’s hosts were, in fact, visible to the Atlanteans, who, in their twilight clairvoyant consciousness—in states of sleep and in the intermediate states between sleep and wakefulness—were able to immerse themselves in the higher spiritual world. When a part of the world of light became accessible to these people, a part of the world opposed to the world of light also became visible; not Lucifer himself, but Lucifer’s companions became visible. And as enchanting and magnificent as the noble figures of the world of light appeared in their astral colors, so terrible and dreadful did the figures belonging to the opposing, seductive world appear.

[ 9 ] Thus we can say: Within the course of human development, there was this influence of Lucifer, to whom humanity owes the possibility of error and evil, but to whom it also owes its freedom. Had this Luciferic influence not come about, what I have just discussed with you would have occurred in the middle of the Atlantean epoch: the tapestry of the sensory world would have spread out before human beings; the minerals, the plant world, and the animal world would have become perceptible to the senses; the world of natural phenomena—lightning and thunder, clouds and air—as well as celestial phenomena would have become fully visible to the outer eye. But standing unmistakably behind all this would have been the divine-spiritual beings who were to penetrate into human beings. Because the influence of Lucifer had been at work beforehand, because human beings had previously absorbed this influence into their astral bodies, therefore, from the Lemurian epoch through the Atlantean epoch, he had prepared his physical body—which at that time was still capable of transformation—in such a way that this physical body could now become the direct instrument for the tapestry of the sensory-physical world, which would have unfolded in such a way that the spiritual world would have become visible behind it. And so human beings could not immediately perceive the physical-sensory world in the form in which it would simultaneously have revealed itself to them as a spiritual world. Then the world of the three natural kingdoms, which stood below human beings, approached them. The physical world approached as something that, like a veil or a thick blanket, in certain circumstances spread itself over the spiritual world. Thus, human beings could not see through to the spiritual world; in fact, they still cannot do so to this day.

[ 10 ] But because human beings had undergone this development, another influence was able to assert itself in the middle of the Atlantean epoch—an influence coming from an entirely different direction. And we must not confuse this influence, which was now asserting itself, with the influence of Lucifer and his followers. Even though it was Lucifer who first made human beings capable of succumbing to this other influence, and even though it was Lucifer who first caused the human physical body to become denser than it would otherwise have been, another influence still had to approach human beings in order to draw them entirely into the physical-sensory world, to completely shut out the world of spiritual beings from them, to shut it off completely, so that humanity was led to the illusion: There is no other world than the world of physical-sensory existence that spreads out before me! Since the middle of the Atlantean epoch, a very different adversary has approached humankind than Lucifer—the adversary who, so to speak, clouds and darkens human perception and cognitive faculties to such an extent that humankind does not make the effort, nor develop the impulses, to penetrate the mysteries of the sensory world. If you imagine that, under Lucifer’s influence, the sensory world had become like a veil, so that one would then have had the spiritual world behind it, then, through the influence of this second being, the physical world has completely become a thick shell that closes itself off from the spiritual world, so that, once again, only the Atlantean initiates, through their preparations, were able to penetrate this veil of the physical-sensory realm.

[ 11 ] Those forces that sought to obscure humanity’s view of the other side of divine existence first confront us in the great teachings that the significant leader of the ancient Persian people imparted to his followers and adherents—in the teachings of Zarathustra. It was Zarathustra who had the mission to impart culture to a people who, unlike the ancient Indian people, did not by their very nature yearn for the spiritual world; rather, Zarathustra had the mission to impart culture to a people whose gaze was directed toward the sensory world, toward the conquest of the physical sensory world—using the cultural means that can be produced only through the efforts of the outer, sensory-physical human being. Therefore, within the ancient Persian culture, it was not so much the Luciferic influence that approached humanity as the influence of that very figure who, since the middle of the Atlantean epoch, had approached humanity and caused a large portion of the initiates at that time to fall into black magic, because, through the seduction of this tempter, they were led to misuse what had become accessible to them from the spiritual world for the service of the physical-sensory world. That powerful influence of black magical forces, which led to the eventual downfall of Atlantis, has its origin in the temptations of the being whom Zarathustra had to teach his people to recognize as the being who opposes the bright God of Light—as Ahriman, Angra Mainyu, in contrast to the God of Light, whom Zarathustra proclaimed as the Great Aura, as Ahura Mazdao.

[ 12 ] We must certainly distinguish between these two figures, Lucifer and Ahriman. For Lucifer is a being who branched off from the host of spiritual-celestial beings after the separation of the Sun, whereas Ahriman is a figure who had already detached himself before the separation of the Sun and unites entirely different powers within himself. Because Lucifer exerted his influence on humanity during the Lemurian epoch, the only thing that was corrupted in humanity was the influence that human beings had still possessed during the Atlantean epoch, namely, the ability to act upon the forces of air and water. You know from my book The Akashic Records that during the Atlantean epoch, human beings still had access to the seed forces present in the plant and animal kingdoms and could extract them in the same way that modern humans extract the forces from coal that they use as steam power to drive their machines. And I have told you that when these forces are extracted, they stand in a mysterious connection to the natural forces in wind, weather, and so on; and when human beings use them for purposes contrary to the divine will, then these natural forces are turned against them.

[ 13 ] This led to the Atlantic flood and the devastating forces of nature that subsequently caused the downfall of the entire Atlantic continent. But even before that, human beings had already lost control over the forces of fire and the combination of these forces with certain secret forces of the Earth. Fire and Earth, in a certain interplay, had in fact already been taken away from human beings earlier. Now, however, through the influence of Ahriman and his followers, human beings regained power over the forces of fire and Earth in a certain way—and now in a destructive manner. And much of what you hear about the use of fire in ancient Persia is connected to what I am telling you now: Certain forces, practiced as black magic and associated with it—which lead humans to meddle with entirely different forces and thereby gain influence over fire and earth—can evoke powerful, devastating effects. Black magic could have been practiced by the descendants of the Atlanteans even in ancient Persia, had it not been for the teachings of Zarathustra, which pointed out how Ahriman, as a hostile power, acts upon human beings in such a way that he ensnares them and darkens their perception of what is to emerge from beyond the sensory world as a true spiritual force. Thus we see that a large part of post-Atlantean culture—which originated with Zarathustra and his followers—was influenced by the fact that people were made to understand, on the one hand, the influence of the noble God of Light, to whom humanity can turn, and, on the other hand, the destructive power of Ahriman and his cohorts.

[ 14 ] This Ahriman influences human beings through a wide variety of means and ways. I have been able to draw your attention to the fact that the event at Golgotha marked a pivotal moment in the world’s development. It was then that the Christ appeared in the world that human beings enter after death. In this world, the influence of Ahriman was even much stronger than it was in the world we see here on Earth between birth and death. It was precisely in the world between death and rebirth that the influences of Ahriman acted upon human beings with terrible force and power. And if nothing else had occurred, human beings between death and rebirth would have been gradually plunged into darkness in the realm of shadows—as the ancient Greeks rightly perceived. An infinite isolation and a regression into human egotism would have set in during the life between death and new birth. And upon reincarnation, the human being would have been born into life in such a way that he would have become a blatant, a terrible egoist. It is therefore more than a mere figure of speech to say that after the event at Golgotha—at the very moment when blood flowed from the wounds on Golgotha—Christ appeared in the world beyond, in the realm of shadows, and bound Ahriman. Even though Ahriman’s influence remained—and indeed, all materialistic thinking among human beings can ultimately be traced back to him—and even though this influence can only be paralyzed when human beings take the event of Golgotha into themselves, this event has nonetheless become the source from which human beings draw strength to re-enter the spiritual-divine world.

[ 15 ] Thus Ahriman first arose before the eyes of human knowledge. Thus he became something that people sensed, something they knew about through the influence of the Zarathustrian culture; and from there, knowledge of Ahriman spread to other peoples and their cultural concepts. Ahriman appears with his hosts among the various civilized peoples under the most diverse names. And due to the peculiar circumstances in which the souls of the European peoples found themselves—those who had lagged farthest behind in the movement from west to east, who had remained most untouched by what had taken place in ancient India, ancient Persia, Egypt, and even during the Greco-Latin period—among these European peoples, among whom the fifth cultural epoch was to be reborn, there existed a state of mind such that the figure of Ahriman appeared to them as particularly terrifying. And while this figure has taken on a wide variety of names—among the Hebrew people it was called Mephistopheles—in the European world it became the figure of the devil in his various forms.

[ 16 ] Thus we see how we are gaining insight into a profound connection with the spiritual worlds, and sometimes, when someone feels vastly superior to medieval superstition, one might well recall the words of the author of Faust: “The little folk never sense the devil, even if he had them by the collar!”

[ 17 ] It is precisely because human beings close their spiritual eyes to this influence that they fall prey to it most of all. Goethe’s Mephistopheles is nothing other than the figure of Ahriman, and we must not confuse him with the figure of Lucifer. All the errors we sometimes encounter in interpretations of Goethe’s Faust can be traced precisely to this confusion, although, of course, it was Lucifer who first made the influence of Ahriman possible; and so, when we look at Ahriman, we are led back to a primordial influence of Lucifer, which could only come before our soul after we have undergone a long process of preparation to recognize this more intimate connection.

[ 18 ] One must not overlook this subtle distinction, for the crux of the matter is that Lucifer essentially only brought humankind under the influence of those forces associated with the elements of wind and water. In contrast, it was Ahriman-Mephistopheles who subjected human beings to forces that are far, far more terrible, and in future cultures, various phenomena will arise that must be linked to the influence of Ahriman. For the occult seeker who does not strive on firm and secure ground, the most terrible illusion, the most terrible deception, can very easily arise precisely through the Ahrimanic influence. For in fact, Ahriman is a spirit who seeks to deceive regarding the true nature of the sensory world—namely, to deceive by suggesting that it is an expression of the spiritual world. If a person has a predisposition toward abnormal states, toward somnambulistic states, or if, through a certain form of improper training, they awaken occult powers within themselves and possess something within that pushes toward egotism, then Ahriman or Mephistopheles can easily exert an influence precisely upon these occult powers—an influence that can easily become a powerful one. While Lucifer’s influence can only lead to what comes to the person from the spiritual world—even in the case of someone undergoing improper training—appearing as an astral figure, a figure visible to the astral body, the forms attributable to Ahriman’s influence by the fact that the evil influences exerted on the physical body penetrate into the etheric body and then become visible as phantoms.

[ 19 ] Thus, in the case of Ahriman’s influence, we are dealing with powers that are far, far lower than those associated with Lucifer’s influence. Lucifer’s influences can never become as terrible as those of Ahriman and those beings connected with the fire forces. Ahriman’s or Mephistopheles’ influence can lead a person, in order to gain occult knowledge, to perform—let us say, for example—rituals involving the physical body. This is the worst method that can be used to attain occult powers: one that consists of rituals and the abuse of the physical body. In certain schools of black magic, such practices are indeed taught to the greatest extent. It is one of the most terrible temptations for human beings when the starting point for occult training is taken from the physical powers of the body.

[ 20 ] It is not even possible to go into detail here, but only to point out that all machinations that in any way consist of an abuse of the physical powers of the body stem from influences originating with Ahriman, and because this forces its way into the human etheric body, it acts like a phantom—but like a phantom world that is nothing other than the garment of forces that drag human beings down below the human level. Almost all ancient cultures—the Indian, Persian, Egyptian, and Greco-Roman cultures—have gone through a period of decadence in which they fell into decline, in which the Mysteries also fell into decline, and in which the pure traditions of the Mysteries were no longer preserved. During these times, many—whether they were disciples of the initiates who were unable to maintain their spiritual standing, or those to whom the secrets had been revealed through improper means—strayed onto wrong and evil paths. Sites of black magic emanated from these influences and have persisted right up to the present day.

[ 21 ] Ahriman is a spirit of falsehood who conjures up illusions for human beings, though he and his accomplices operate in the spiritual world. He himself is not an illusion—oh no! But what appears before the human being’s spiritual eye under his influence—that is an illusion. When a person’s desires and passions take a wrong turn, and at the same time he somehow surrenders himself to occult forces, then the occult forces that emerge as a result force their way into the etheric body, and among the illusions—which can sometimes be quite venerable figures—the most pernicious, the worst powers appear. Such is the terrible influence of Ahriman upon human beings.

[ 22 ] From what has been said, you can gather that, so to speak, it was precisely through the appearance of the Christ—if we may use that expression—that Ahriman was bound, though only for those who are increasingly striving to penetrate the Mystery of the Christ. And there will be less and less protection in the world against the influence of Ahriman outside of the forces that radiate from the Christ Mystery. In a certain sense, our time—and many phenomena point to this—is moving toward these influences of Ahriman. Certain esoteric teachings also refer to the hosts of Ahriman as the Asuras. These are, of course, the evil Asuras who, at a certain point in time, fell out of the evolutionary path of the Asuras who had given humanity its personality. It has already been indicated that these are spiritual beings who separated themselves from the entire development of the Earth before the separation of the Sun.

[ 23 ] So far, we have only described the terrible influence that Ahriman can exert on a certain kind of abnormal development that can take an occult course. But in a certain sense, the whole of humanity placed itself, so to speak, under the influence of Ahriman during the second half of the Atlantean epoch. The entire post-Atlantean era, in a certain sense, bears the aftereffects of Ahriman’s influence—more so in one region of the Earth than in another. But Ahriman’s influence has made itself felt everywhere, and everything that was given to the peoples in the teachings of the ancient initiates by the spirits of light opposed to Ahriman was, in essence, given only so that they might gradually free themselves from Ahriman’s influence. This was a preparatory, well-guided, and wise education of humanity.

[ 24 ] Let us not forget, however, that, fundamentally speaking, Ahriman’s fate has been intertwined in a certain way with the fate of humanity since that time, and the most diverse events—of which the uninitiated can know nothing—keep the entire karma of humanity in a continuous connection with Ahriman’s karma. If we wish to understand what is about to be said, we must realize that, in addition to the karma that each individual possesses, there is a general karmic law that applies to all levels of existence. All kinds of beings have their own karma; the karma of one being is one thing, that of other beings is another. But karma permeates all realms of existence, and there are certainly aspects of humanity’s karma—the karma of a people, a society, or another human group—that we must regard as collective karma, so that under certain circumstances the individual may be swept along by the collective karma. And for those who cannot see through these matters, it will not always be easy to discern where the influences of the forces actually lie for the people who have been struck by this fate. It is entirely possible for an individual who is part of a collective to be completely innocent by virtue of his or her individual karma; yet, simply by being part of that collective karma, misfortune may befall him or her. However, if he or she is entirely innocent, this will be balanced out in later incarnations.

[ 25 ] In the broader context, we must not focus solely on past karma; we must also consider future karma. We can certainly say that, under certain circumstances, an entire group of people may exist, and that this group may fall victim to a terrible fate. It is not apparent why this particular group of people has fallen victim to this fate. Someone who were able to examine the karma of an individual might, under certain circumstances, find nothing that could have led to this tragic fate, for the interconnections of karma are very complex. Far, far away—yet still linked to them—lies what necessitates that such karma brings about this or that outcome. And then it may be that the entire group has been struck innocently by collective karma, while perhaps those primarily responsible could not be struck because the opportunity to do so did not exist. Then one can say only this: In the collective karma of each individual, everything balances out, even if this ‘this or that’ befall them; this is inscribed in their karma, and everything will be balanced out in the most complete way in the future. So when we consider the law of karma, we must also take future karma into account. But we must not forget that the human being is not a single, isolated being; rather, we must bear in mind that every individual shares in the collective karma of humanity. Nor must we forget that, along with humanity, the human being belongs to the hierarchies of beings who have not entered the physical world, and that he is also drawn into the karma of these hierarchies. Many events occur in the physical world that are part of humanity’s destiny, the connection of which is not initially sought in the things with which they are directly related; yet the karmic consequences inevitably occur. Ahriman’s karma has been linked to humanity’s karma since the second half of the Atlantean epoch. Where, then, are Ahriman’s deeds, apart from what Ahriman works through human bodies to instill in human beings illusions and phantoms about the sensory world? Where else could they be?

[ 26 ] Everything in the world has, so to speak, two sides: one side that pertains more to the human being as a spiritual being, and, on the other hand, that which belongs to what has developed as the natural kingdoms surrounding human beings. The human being’s sphere of activity is the Earth. To the spiritual eye, this reveals itself as a complex of different layers. We know that the outermost layer of our Earth is called the mineral Earth or mineral layer, since it contains only the kinds of substances we find beneath our feet. This is the relatively thinnest layer. Then comes the soft Earth. This layer has a completely different material structure than the mineral layer above it. This second layer is, so to speak, endowed with an inner life; and it is only because the solid mineral layer lies spread over it that the inner forces of this second layer are held together. For the moment it were exposed, it would disperse throughout the entire celestial space. It is therefore a layer that is under immense pressure. A third layer is the vapor layer. But it is not a vapor of a material nature, as we have it on the surface of our Earth; rather, in this third layer, the substance itself is endowed with inner forces that we can only compare to human passions, to the inner drives of human beings. While on Earth only beings that are formed in the same way as animals and humans can develop passions, this third layer—just as the substances of the Earth are permeated by magnetic and thermal forces—is materially permeated by forces that correspond to what we know as human and animal drives and passions. Then, as the fourth layer, we have the form layer, so called because it contains the material and the forces of what we encounter in the mineral part of the Earth as formed entities. And the fifth layer, the fertile soil, has the distinctive characteristic that, as a material in itself, it possesses infinite fertility. If you were to have a portion of this layer of the earth, it would continually sprout new shoots and sprouts from within itself; overflowing fertility is the defining characteristic of this layer. After that, we come to the sixth layer, the fire earth, which contains within itself forces that can become terribly devastating and destructive. It is actually these forces into which the primordial fires have been bound.

[ 27 ] In this layer, the realm of Ahriman essentially exerts its influence, and it acts from this layer. What manifests in the outer phenomena of nature—in the air and water, in cloud formations, and in the form of lightning and thunder—is, so to speak, a final remnant—but a good one—on the Earth’s surface of the forces that were already connected to the ancient Saturn and that separated from it along with the Sun. Of the forces at work here, the inner fiery forces of the Earth are placed at Ahriman’s service. There he has the center of his activity. And while his spiritual influences draw toward human souls in the manner described and lead them into error, we see how he—in a certain sense bound—has specific points of attack for his activity within the Earth. If one were to know the mysterious connections between what has happened on Earth under Ahriman’s influence and what has thereby become Ahriman’s own karma, one would recognize in the Earth’s tremors the connection between what unfolds as natural events in such a terribly sad and tragic manner and what reigns on Earth. This has remained since ancient times as something that reacts on Earth against the beings of light and goodness.

[ 28 ] Thus, various forces—linked to those beings who were cast out of their connection with the Earth at the time when the luminous, benevolent beings guided the healing phenomena around the globe—are at work across the Earth, and in a certain sense we can recognize the echo of these fiery forces—which were once withheld from humanity—in what fire brings about in such terrible natural phenomena. We need not tell ourselves that those affected by what is brought about by Ahriman’s karma—which, however, has been connected to humanity’s karma since Atlantean times—are in any way to blame for it. This is connected to the collective karma of humanity, which the individual must also bear. And the causes often lie elsewhere entirely; they then manifest in specific places as the effects of Ahriman’s karma, precisely because these places offer the opportunity for this to occur.

[ 29 ] Here we see a connection that, however, appears to us as a remnant of other ancient human catastrophes. During the Lemurian era, human beings were deprived of the power to influence fire. Before that, humans could influence fire. That is why ancient Lemuria perished as a result of humanity’s fiery passions. At that time, the same fire that is now below was above. Back then, fire withdrew from the Earth’s surface; that same fire, which emerged as an extract from the primordial fire, is the inorganic fire—the mineral fire—of today. The same is true of the forces that pass through air and water and that, through human passions, brought about the catastrophes of Atlantis. It was a collective human karma that brought about these Atlantean catastrophes. But a remnant of it remains, and this remnant gives rise to the reverberations of those catastrophes. Our volcanic eruptions and our earthquakes are nothing other than the reverberations of these catastrophes. We must, however, bear in mind that it should not even occur to anyone that those currently affected by such a catastrophe bear even a fraction of the blame, and that therefore compassion for those affected should not be evoked to the fullest extent. The anthroposophist must realize that these people’s karma has nothing to do with what he is permitted to do, and that he should not, for example, refuse to help a person simply because—to put it trivially—he believes in karma, namely that the person has brought this fate upon himself. This is precisely what karma calls us to do: to help people because we can be certain that our help will then mean something to them, something that will be inscribed in their karma, thereby steering their karma in a more favorable direction. Understanding the world based on karma must lead us precisely to compassion. Thus, our understanding of those who are unhappily suffering and affected by such a catastrophe will make us all the more compassionate, for it implies that this is a collective human karma from which individual members of humanity must suffer, and that just as all of humanity brings about such events, so too must all of humanity bear the responsibility for them; that we must regard such a fate as our own; that we do not even help because we do so voluntarily, but because we know: We are part of humanity’s karma, and whatever has been brought about there is also our own fault.

[ 30 ] This morning I received a question regarding earthquake disasters. The question is as follows:

[ 31 ] “How can earthquake disasters be explained from an occult perspective? Can they be predicted? If individual disasters could be predicted, why wouldn’t it be possible to issue a warning in advance in an unobtrusive manner? Such a warning might not be of any immediate use the first time, but it certainly would be later.”

[ 32 ] Our older members will recall what was occasionally mentioned at the end of the lecture on “The Interior of the Earth”—namely, what was said about the possibility of earthquakes occurring on Earth. But we will not consider that now; instead, we will address this question directly. The question essentially consists of two parts. The first part is this: Can earthquakes be foreseen in a certain way from the occult context that can be surveyed? This question must be answered by stating that the understanding of such things belongs to the deepest insights of occult knowledge in general. For a single event that has occurred on Earth—one that essentially arises from such a deep cause as has been described today, and which is connected to causes extending far beyond the Earth—it is, in fact, entirely correct that a specific time can be given even for such individual events. The occultist would certainly have the ability to specify such a time. But now the other question is this: Can such specifications be made, and should they be made? To those who view the occult mysteries from the outside, it will indeed sound almost self-evident that, in a certain sense, the answer to this could be “yes.” And yet, the fact is that, with regard to such events, predictions can actually be made from the places of initiation only two or three times in every century—at most two or three times. For you must bear in mind that these things are connected with the karma of humanity, and that if, for example, they were avoided in one particular instance, they would then have to manifest elsewhere in a different form. Making a prediction would not change the fact itself. And consider what a terrible impact it would have on the karma of the entire Earth if human measures were taken in response to such events! The reaction would be terrible, and indeed so severe that only in rare, exceptional cases could someone who were a deeply initiated being make use of his knowledge—for himself or for those closest to him—if he were to foresee an earthquake disaster. Knowing this, he would have to perish, quite naturally. For these things, which have been embedded in humanity’s karma for millennia and millions of years, cannot be paralyzed by measures taken within a brief human epoch. But there is something else to consider as well.

[ 33 ] It has been said that this chapter in particular is among the most difficult occult studies. When I gave the lecture on the “Interior of the Earth,” I already said that it is immensely difficult to know anything about the Earth’s interior, that it is much easier to know something about astral space, about the Devachanic realm, or even about the most distant planets than about the Earth’s interior, Most of what is said about the Earth’s interior is simply pure nonsense, because it is one of the most difficult subjects in occultism. This field also includes matters related to these elemental catastrophes. And above all, you must bear in mind that clairvoyance is not something where someone simply sits down, enters a special state, and can then say what is happening throughout the entire world, all the way up to the highest realms. That is not how things work. Anyone who believed that would be just as deluded as someone who were to say: “You do have the ability to perceive in the physical world; but you didn’t even notice it, and you didn’t see at all—while you were sitting here in this room at twelve o’clock—what happened outside by the Spree at twelve o’clock?”—There are, after all, obstacles to seeing. If the person in question had happened to be out for a walk at twelve o’clock, then perhaps he would have perceived the event in question. It is not the case that simply by resolving to put oneself in the necessary state, all worlds are now equally open. Even then, the person in question must first go to the things and examine them, and these examinations, which are at issue here, are among the most difficult things, because the greatest obstacles stand in the way. And here, perhaps, we may speak specifically about these obstacles.

[ 34 ] You cannot take away the ability to walk physically on two legs from a person merely by cutting off his legs, but also by locking him up; then he cannot walk around. Similarly, there are also obstacles to occult research, and in the field we are discussing, there are indeed enormous obstacles. And I would now like to point out one of the main obstacles to you. I want to draw your attention to a mysterious connection. The greatest obstacle to occult research in this field is the current way in which materialistic, external science is conducted today. All the vast amounts of illusions and errors that are accumulated today in materialistic science, all the unworthy investigations that are being conducted—which not only lead nowhere but actually stem solely from human vanity—are things whose effects in the higher worlds make research into such phenomena in those higher worlds, and a clear perspective on them, virtually impossible or at least very difficult. This free perspective is clouded precisely by the fact that materialistic research is taking place here on Earth. It is not even possible to grasp these things at a glance. I would like to say: Let us first await the time when spiritual science will become more widespread and when the materialistic superstition of our world will be swept away by spiritual science and its influence! Precisely this senseless speculation and hypothesis-building—in which all manner of things are then imagined to exist within the Earth’s interior—let all of that be swept away, and you will see: Once spiritual science has established itself as a destiny within humanity’s karma, once it finds the means and ways to capture the souls and, in this way, is able to defeat the opposing forces—the materialistic superstition—and once what is connected to humanity’s worst enemy, which binds the human gaze to the sensory world, can be further explored, then you will see that the possibility will also arise to influence the karma of humanity externally, by mitigating the horror of such events. Look within the materialistic superstition of humanity for the reasons why the initiates must remain silent about those events connected with the great karma of humanity. We see a scientific enterprise that in many cases is not governed by a Faustian quest for truth, but is, to the greatest extent, linked to vanity and ambition. How much scientific research is thus brought into the world simply because the individual seeks only what benefits himself. If you take all this into account, you will see how powerful the force is that opposes the prospect of glimpsing the world hidden behind external sensory phenomena. Only when humanity clears away this fog will the time come when, with regard to certain mysterious natural phenomena—which emanate from the enemies of humanity and deeply affect human life—humanity can be helped to a certain extent and in a comprehensive manner. Until then, this possibility does not exist.

[ 35 ] These, however, as I am well aware, are the directions given to these questions—directions that do not always align with the questioner’s own perspective. But the Esoteric Teaching is, after all, destined in many cases to first steer the question onto the right track, so that the question may be properly posed before it can be properly answered. But do not take this to mean, however, that the mysterious connection between earthly catastrophes and the karma of humanity does not fall within the realm of mysteries that can be explored. It does fall within that realm, and it is explorable. But there are reasons why, today, only the most general aspects of these deepest mysteries can reach the world. Let spiritual science first bring to humanity the realization that it is possible for its own actions to be connected with natural events; then the time will come when, precisely out of this realization, humanity will develop the understanding that these matters can be answered in a single question, as is required. That time will come. For esoteric science can undergo many trials. It may even be the case that its influence is paralyzed, that its influence remains confined to a very narrow circle. But it will make its way through humanity; it will become embedded in human karma, and then the possibility will also be created for humanity itself to influence human karma.