The Rudolf Steiner Archive

Twelfth Lecture

[ 1 ] You know that, over the years, as our German Section has developed, we have spoken about the true, deeper foundations of the Gospels of Matthew, Luke, and John, and much of what needs to be said about the mysteries of Christianity has also been discussed here in Hanover. You will have observed that each of the Gospels provides a special opportunity to delve into the Christian message. More so than with the other Gospels, it is necessary to establish a very specific premise if one wishes to approach an understanding of Christianity based on the Gospel of Mark. One must immerse oneself completely in the unique way in which human expression was employed in past eras of human development. It suffices to point out just a few things: above all, the ancient Hebrew language opens up an infinitely broad horizon through its mode of expression. Anyone who attended the lecture series in Munich on the mysteries of the work of creation and saw how necessary it was to provide translations of individual words in order to understand the six- or seven-day work will have gained a sense of how essential it is, when dealing with these ancient texts, to “recreate” them, so to speak, from the very spirit and soul of the things themselves. That is what matters. In the Hebrew language, vowels and consonants were handled differently than is customary today. When the Hebrew language referred to what people saw around them, it expressed this through the consonants. The vowels are indicated by mere dots, since they were the expression of what lived in the soul, of everything inner. The Hebrew language had vowels for everything that was inner experience, and consonants for what was outer perception. And one felt this vividly. And in those ancient times, including in Greek, a word was associated with a kind of stirring toward a supersensible reference—and in such a clear way that everyone knew that when this or that word was spoken with these or those sounds, it had to stir up within their soul a whole range of mental images that were entirely different for one word than for another. An immense amount could be said in just a few words, because all of this played a part. And we must remember this in particular when considering the Gospel of Mark. We must not cling to the word itself; through the word alone, we cannot enter into the mysteries and secrets of the Gospel of Mark.

[ 2 ] I would like to offer a few insights here. Language used to be a means of expression for the soul and spirit. In our time, it has become a means of expressing abstract thought, which is far removed from the living, pictorial thinking that alone can point the way up into the spiritual worlds. In order for us to return to such living thinking, the means of expression in our language must once again be brought to life. But language has become philistine and pedantic, serving only abstract concepts. Everything living that can lead us upward through the words of language into higher realms and connect the soul with the mysteries of the universe—all of that has been completely lost. And here I would like to suggest how, in the Rosicrucian Mystery, the first steps have been taken toward what aims to breathe life into language. Sometimes it comes down to small nuances in expression. Our language is, after all, coarse and clumsy, and one must struggle with it to express the subtleties of spiritual life. That is why I sought to point toward the mysteries of existence through the use of language. In the mystery drama The Portal of Initiation, the aim was to express, by other means, much of what cannot be said with words. In it, a person strives upward toward the first stages of initiation. He strives to hear the spiritual tones resounding within his own soul. What Johannes goes through is depicted in this drama. He undergoes profound soul experiences in order to develop his soul. He has reached the point where, through the most bitter and, at the same time, the greatest and most powerful soul experiences, he arrives at the spiritual world, Devachan, and is now to be introduced to the life and weaving of the elemental beings of Devachan. Expressing these mysteries of the life and weaving of the elemental beings in words always results in an abstract, crude meaning. And so I tried to have living people express these mysteries through their very being, just as light and darkness interweave. In this way, I sought to hint at the inherent interweaving of words and sounds through the mysteries of the universe. Through this, it was possible to make audible to the ear many things that, when expressed in today’s language, sound abstract. One must listen closely to the sound of the words, noting how the right sound is placed in the right spot. One must sense where it belongs and where it does not belong. This is something like spiritual alchemy. And the intertwining and interplay of spiritual forces in the universe can be hinted at through such means.

[ 3 ] Maria welcomes John into the Devachan along with her companions Philia, Astrid, and Luna. Philia is the poetic representation of the feeling soul; that is why her name contains two “I”s and one “A.” Luna is the expression of the conscious soul; that is why her name contains one “U” and one “A.” Astrid, the embodiment of the intellectual or emotional soul, has the letter “A” first and then the “I” in her name. This conveys a multitude of things better than words ever could. If one could awaken a sense of this, I would no longer need to speak about many things. But one must grasp what it means: here stands a U—one must sense the dullness, the profundity of the U, just as one must sense the brightness of the I and the gentle hint of “Ai” or “Ei” that pours wonder into the soul. This provides a different kind of understanding than can be gained through words. Language is truly, in its sounds, an immensely wonderful instrument. It is far, far wiser than human beings, and we would do well to listen to its wisdom. But people are in the process of spoiling it. And if we want to understand earlier times at all—with their peculiar modes of expression—we must put ourselves in the shoes of what lived in the souls of the people in question.

[ 4 ] And right from the start—when we simply open the Gospel of Mark to the first few lines—we can already sense the need to think this way about language and its mysteries. In the Lutheran translation—which is still the best in most cases; Weizsäcker’s is much worse—the passage from Isaiah reads: “Behold, I send my angel before you, who will prepare your way before you. It is the voice of a preacher in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight!”

[ 5 ] One might think that anyone who reads this passage, if he is an honest person, would have to admit: I don’t know what to make of this passage. To understand what is actually written here, it is necessary to penetrate, through Spiritual Science, into what—in the sense of the prophet Isaiah, who was initiated into these matters—was to take place through the events in Palestine and the Mystery of Golgotha. Our age, after all, finds it impossible to believe that there are actually people who can provide insight into the most important impulses underlying the development of the world. Our age does not admit this. Hence the grotesque interpretations of the Book of Revelation, such that it is claimed that the author of the Book of Revelation had already experienced the very events he describes there. People speak of objective research, but they make the following assumption from the outset: No one may know anything that one does not know oneself. The prophet Isaiah, however, seeks to express in these words something he knows through his initiation. He wants to say: Something will come in the development of humanity that is of eminent, fundamental significance for the entire course of human development. - Why did he—and with him all the other initiates—regard this event, to which he wished to point, as so significant? He viewed human development correctly; he knew that human beings had once possessed elemental clairvoyance—they looked into the spiritual worlds and could use their astral body for seeing. But this astral body then lost its power of vision and became darkened within itself. Yet this was precisely the progress of humanity: that it lost this clairvoyant power of the astral body. In return, however, it was to allow its “I” to act more and more. Drawing on the knowledge of initiation, Isaiah could have said: People will then speak only of their “I,” and as long as this “I” is not filled with Christ, it is dependent on what a person can perceive of the world solely through the physical plane—using only the senses and the intellect. They will be cut off from the world of the spirit. But then they will find comfort. The Christ will come, and these souls will become increasingly permeated by the Christ impulse, so that they may once again look up into the spiritual world. But they will experience that, beforehand, the astral body has become dark.

[ 6 ] Human beings received the initial rudiments of their physical body on Saturn; on the ancient Sun, they received the rudiments of their etheric body; on the ancient Moon, those of their astral body; and the “I” develops on Earth. Until such time as the astral body has lost its clairvoyant power and become dark, this “I” must first assert itself in the darkness. Before the actual earthly evolution began, there was a kind of repetition of the lunar evolution. During that time, human beings developed their astral bodies so that the activity of the entire world lived pictorially within them. Up to that point, therefore, there was a repetition of the lunar evolution. The “I” then forced its way in, and Isaiah says: “The ‘I’ will take up more and more space on Earth.”

[ 7 ] On the ancient Moon there were also beings with human nature, as well as on the Sun and Saturn. On Earth, the human being is human. The angel was human on the Moon, and the Earth human is the successor to the angels in humanity, so that the human’s predecessor on Earth must prepare what is to happen to the human being. The angelic must work into the astral body before the “I” can work into it. If humanity’s earthly mission is to be prepared, this must be done by humanity’s predecessor, the angel. Therefore, at a certain time, an angel intervened in a human nature. When something like this occurs, the earthly human being can be a maya. A higher being makes use of his soul. In truth, a human being is what he appears to be before us, and yet he can serve as a vessel for another being. And so it came to pass that the same individuality that once lived as Elijah and appeared as John upon reincarnation took into itself an angelic nature that expressed itself through him. In my mystery drama The Gate of Initiation, such a process takes place. There, another being works through Mary:

Here, within this circle,
A knot is forming from the threads
That Karma spins as the world comes into being.
O friend, your sufferings
Are links in a knot of fate,
In which the deeds of the gods intertwine with human lives.

[ 8 ] The deeds of the gods intertwine with human lives and shape human destinies.

[ 9 ] Thus, divine action was linked to human destiny in John the Baptist. A divine being, an angelic being, worked through him. What he did could only happen because the human being John was a maya—because within him lived a being whose purpose was to foreshadow what was to become of humanity on Earth. And now, if we wish to translate accurately, we must do so by empathizing with what is truly meant to be expressed in these words: Take note: The “I” that is to appear in the human being sends the preparatory angel ahead of the “I.”

[ 10 ] This refers to the angel who dwelt within the personality of John the Baptist. That is what is meant, and the entire teaching about the angel that we learn in Theosophy is contained in this sentence: that lunar initiates must prepare for earthly initiations.

[ 11 ] Now we must take a brief look into human nature as it has gradually developed in relation to the Mystery of Golgotha. Think about how people must have felt when they looked back on ancient times, when the astral body could see clearly into the spiritual world; how it then became darker and darker. People were able to perceive this from one incarnation to the next. They said to themselves: In the past, when they wanted to perceive something in the spiritual world, they began to shine and glow with their astral body. Then this gradually ceased; it grew darker and darker. And then a dark loneliness had taken hold within the human being—a desert, ἔρημος—this even finds expression in Greek. And then a voice awakens in the human soul, like a cry of longing for the Lord of the human being, for the “I,” so that it might truly take up residence in the human soul. This was felt in the word χὐριοç, which is translated with the flat term “Lord.” People sensed that the soul consisted of three powers: thinking, feeling, and willing. Then came the time when the “I,” the χὐριοç, was to be received. This is what John wanted to express when he said: “Prepare the way of the Lord! Make his paths straight!”

[ 12 ] There you have the entire wise guidance of human evolution toward the Mystery of Golgotha, as expressed in a saying of Isaiah at the beginning of the Gospel of Mark. And at the same time, this saying of Isaiah about John tells us everything we know about him. I have explained what kind of person he had to be in order to receive an angel. This required a certain initiation. The very initiation that was necessary for this also gave such a person the opportunity to show others: now the time has truly come—the time of the dawning of the “I.”

[ 13 ] The one who could say this must have been the initiate who, in the sense of the language of initiation, had been an Aquarian initiate since ancient times. The great mysteries of the spiritual world, into which human beings are woven through initiation, are described in the language of heaven. One had to choose the script of heaven if one wished to express what happens to the human soul when it is initiated into the great mysteries. This cannot be expressed in human words. And so it was said: High in the heavens, the stars stand in certain relationships to one another. If we look at them and form expressions based on these relationships between the stars, then we can express the mysteries that take place within a human being during such an initiation.

[ 14 ] People have always looked up to the great Ahura Mazda—regardless of the name they gave him in their various cultures. They looked up to the divine being and his hierarchy within the sun. Christ is the great Spirit who underlies the beings of the sun. There are twelve different ways to be initiated into the sacred solar mysteries, and it is hardly possible to express this in earthly words. But if we consider how the sun stands before a constellation and sends its rays to Earth through it, and how it relates to the other stars in the heavens, then we have a kind of writing that can express this: This person is initiated into the solar mysteries in such a way that we have before us an initiate of Aquarius.

[ 15 ] Let us consider the seven holy Rishis. They were so deeply initiated into the solar mysteries that the symbol of their initiation is the Sun’s position in the constellation of Taurus; and what we can see in the firmament when the Sun is in the constellation of Taurus actually reveals the mystery of the unique initiation of the Rishis, and this initiation worked through the seven personalities who were the seven holy Rishis. This is expressed by the fact that the Seven Stars, the Pleiades, shine from the same place. This is the place where our entire solar system entered our universe. Thus, one can express the initiation into the various types of solar mysteries by referring to the Sun’s position in a constellation.

[ 16 ] John’s initiation had to be such that it was an Aquarian initiation, reflecting the Sun’s position in the constellation of Aquarius. To understand this a little, remember that on the light side of the zodiac are: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, and then Libra. Then come the constellations that lie on the winter or night side of the zodiac: Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces. Aquarius and Pisces lie on the winter or night side of the zodiac. What does that mean? Well, when the sun’s rays fall there, they must not only pass through physical space but also send the spiritual light of the sun—which passes through the Earth—through spiritual space. The Aquarius Initiates were given the name “Aquarius Initiates” because those who were thus initiated were able to administer water baptism, to bend down with the power that this spiritual solar force gave them, and to submerge themselves beneath the water with it.

[ 17 ] The names of the zodiac constellations were carried up to the heavens from the realities of spiritual life that took place here on Earth. Now these oddballs, our scientists, go about it this way: to explain such things, they say that the names of the constellations were simply brought down and applied to certain personalities on Earth. The exact opposite is true. Today, people say that John the Baptist was called Aquarius because the name of the constellation Aquarius was applied to him. What the wise scholars do today is really the same as trying to harness a donkey with its head facing the cart. There is also the well-known ironic attempt by a scholar to portray Napoleon as a non-historical figure. It is shown there how easy it is to derive the name Napoleon from Apollo; the preceding “N” would merely signify a kind of comparative form of the name—as it were, a sort of “Super-Apollo.” Both figures have six siblings, and the star Apollo is counted among the seven Pleiades. Napoleon’s twelve marshals correspond to the twelve constellations of the zodiac. Apollo’s mother is Leto, Napoleon’s is Létitia, and so on.

[ 18 ] If we draw the celestial arc of the sun, we discover that as the physical sun sets, its spiritual counterpart rises. Thus, we must draw the diurnal or summer arc of the sun, where the sun moves from Taurus to Aries and so on, and the winter or nocturnal arc of the sun, through which we can describe the mysteries of the initiation of Aquarius and Pisces. Physically, it moves from Virgo to Leo, Cancer, Gemini, Taurus, and Aries; spiritually, it moves from Virgo to Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces. The spiritual counterpart to the physical path of the sun is the sun’s path from Aquarius to Pisces.

[ 19 ] This is why John could say: “He must increase, but I must decrease.” My mission is such that you will understand it when the Sun moves from the constellation of Aquarius to the constellation of Pisces. I am an initiate of Aquarius, and I am not worthy to reveal to you the mystery of the Sun in Pisces. I am not worthy to untie the sandal straps of the one whom I am to announce to you.

[ 20 ] In these words of John, we have, so to speak, tangible proof of how he characterizes himself figuratively as an Aquarian initiate. The illustrations in the old folk calendars express what John’s words mean: “I am not worthy to untie the straps of his sandals.” Look at the old zodiac illustrations; there Aquarius is kneeling. In his posture, he shows the reverence due to the one who, as the passing sun ascending the zodiac toward Pisces, heralds what is to come. This is an image of John the Baptist. — The sun continues on its path; he cannot hold it back; he can only herald its coming.

[ 21 ] The prophet Isaiah knew that when the sun moves into Pisces, something else will come. People or beings associated with the initiation of the Fish—that is the sun’s advance into Pisces. Hence also the ancient symbol for Christ Jesus in the earliest post-Christian times: the fish. This symbol is still found frequently today in the catacombs of Rome—either two fish or a single fish. Why did Jesus say to his disciples, “I will make you fishers of men”? John prepares the way for the Fish Initiation, which the Nazarene must undergo so that he may receive the Christ within himself. What took place in Palestine—the greatest event in the entire history of the world—is inscribed in the zodiac in wondrous signs. What truly took place step by step in Palestine cannot, in its depths, be explained by human scripture, but rather by a heavenly scripture that must be consulted if we are to recognize it in reality, since it is so sublime that it stands in direct relation to the macrocosm. - Was everything that a physical eye saw walking in Palestine actually the flesh and blood of Jesus of Nazareth? Taken together with all that I have indicated, this was an illusion, a Maya. In reality, the entire spiritual central force—the focal force of the Sun—lived within this form of Jesus of Nazareth, who walked about in Palestine. That force walked about in Palestine, and the outer physical appearance of Jesus was a Maya. Therefore, everything he did was connected to the great events of the macrocosm. Let us note the following: Throughout the Gospel of Mark, we find mention of the fact that Christ healed after the sun had set or before the sun had risen. When it says in Mark 1:32: “But in the evening, after the sun had set, they brought to him all kinds of sick and possessed people”—why did they bring the sick and possessed people then? Because the sun had set, because the power of the sun was no longer acting physically, because the power of the sun was acting spiritually within him, and because what he was to do was not connected with the physical power of the sun. The physically active sun had set, but the spiritual power of the sun was at work through his heart, through his body. And if he wanted to develop his greatest and most powerful abilities, he had to seek the impulse to do so while the sun was not physically in the sky. And when it says, “Before the sun had risen”—that, too, has its special significance. Every word in the Gospel of Mark describes great cosmic connections between the events in the universe and every step, every deed of the Christ in the body of Jesus of Nazareth here on Earth. If one were to draw up a map—such as a geographical map—of his paths and deeds and then study the celestial events, one would obtain the same picture. The celestial phenomena would appear, as it were, projected down onto the earth.

[ 22 ] Where did a man like Kepler get what he was able to contribute to astronomy? Kepler did not draw the strength to summarize the foundation of this astronomy in his three great astronomical laws from what he initially was as Kepler. The three laws are expressions of the motion of the planets around their fixed stars. They could only have been discovered through a certain enthusiasm within Kepler, through which certain memories surfaced in him. In a previous incarnation, he had been a student of the ancient Egyptian mysteries. This resurfaced in him—and in many other people as well—as dark instincts. Such people had much in their inner lives that was an expression of what the harmony of the spheres itself is. Throughout his life, Kepler sought out the wondrous constellations of the stars in the sky. He observed the conjunction of Saturn, Jupiter, and the Moon, and sought through this to explain the star that shone for the three wise men from the East. People at that time had not yet thought to devise such terrifying abstractions as the Kant-Laplace theory.

[ 23 ] In the Gospel of Mark, we find a wondrous harmony between what was to take place on our Earth through the deeds of Christ Jesus and the Mystery of Golgotha, and the vast cosmos out there. And only if we can decipher the language of the stars can we understand the Gospel of Mark. To do this, we must penetrate the linguistic mysteries of heaven. And when the Gospel of Mark says, “The sun has set”—this does not merely mean that the sun is no longer shining, but is intended to express the fact that all the spiritual beings of the solar hierarchy have entered a world of more intense spirit, because they must work through the earth, through physical substance. All the greatness that was meant to be expressed in this could be sensed when one said: “Something happened through Christ Jesus when the sun had set or at sunset.” A whole world lay within such words.

[ 24 ] Thus, these few pointers are meant to help us, over time, gradually delve ever deeper into the mysteries of the Gospels. And it is precisely through the Gospel of Mark that the wondrous mysteries of cosmic events can unfold before the human soul. Every word in the Gospel of Mark is of the utmost importance.

Q&A

What does the temptation of Jesus by Satan mean? Are Satan and Lucifer the same? And how can the Most High be tempted by one who is subordinate to him?

[ 25 ] Satan is Ahriman. In Luke and Matthew, the reference is to Lucifer; in Mark, to Ahriman. Only Mark speaks of Satan. Mark provides a magnificent description of how, through the appearance of hideous animal forms, human beings enter the spiritual world in a natural way. There are people who believe they can enter the spiritual world through certain diets and other material processes. But everything they then see—even if it is the most sublime beings of light, and however magnificent it may appear—is merely a reflection of their own self, an Ahrimanic illusion. Certainly, both Lucifer and Ahriman are temptations for human beings, and Christ in human form had to show how to resist them when one begins to enter the spiritual world.

Will we see our loved ones again in the higher worlds?

[ 26 ] Spiritual sight must be understood differently from physical sight. In the spiritual sense, a reunion is certain. The fact that Mary Magdalene did not immediately recognize Jesus indicates that the risen Christ cannot be recognized by everyone; one must have developed certain powers. Mary receives this special gift only through the call. Much of what Spiritual Science teaches is regarded as heretical, even though it can be proven precisely by the Gospels. The Risen One could be recognized only with the clairvoyant eye.

Isn't the content of the Babylonian tablet almost the same as that of the Ten Commandments?

[ 27 ] The people who speak of similarities do not understand what really matters. This is most clearly illustrated by the Sermon on the Mount. For example, the Bible does not say, “For the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs,” but rather, “For they will find within themselves the kingdoms of heaven.” - In this regard, the Ten Commandments are also fundamentally different from anything that came before. What Hebrew thought and Christianity added to what was already present in earlier religious systems is the “I Am” impulse. When one delves into such matters, they are immensely instructive.

How does the doctrine of reincarnation align with the Bible?

[ 28 ] It is not yet possible today to fully understand the Bible. Every era has interpreted it in a way that suited it at the time. The Bible has nothing to fear from the doctrine of reincarnation. In the past, people also believed that the Bible was under threat whenever a new scientific truth was discovered.

What about the connection between Christ and Lucifer?

[ 29 ] It is not so easy to speak briefly about this. We have often spoken of how the human being has passed from incarnation to incarnation, and how the Luciferic power became anchored in the astral body relatively early on, while Ahriman became anchored in the etheric body later. With the coming of Christ Jesus, all these things take on a different meaning. We are only at the beginning of the Christ evolution. Christ had dealings with Lucifer and Ahriman; if one understands the Gospels, one will find this. But who today realizes that the accounts of the temptations in Matthew, Mark, and Luke differ? The occultist knows that there is not only a temptation by Lucifer through desires, but also one by Ahriman—namely, when one projects one’s own passions out into the macrocosm by seeing all manner of forms. The Gospel of Matthew describes a Luciferic temptation. In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus dwells among the animals of one’s own human nature. — In all occult writings, Lucifer is depicted as a serpent, and Ahriman as a dog.

[ 30 ] These stories of temptation point to profound mysteries. Just as these forces had to come in order to make human beings independent, so must human beings break free again through the Christ within their souls. Little by little, Lucifer and Ahriman will be transformed into their opposites. Humanity will take the Christ impulse into itself and leave Ahriman outside; in the past and now, it is the other way around. Such things can be studied in the drama The Gate of Initiation. Pay attention to the harmony of the vowels. There is an inner necessity in these things. The verses in the first part are transformed into their opposites in the second part; this is intentional.

Question not recorded.

[ 31 ] It is a fact that Jesus wrote nothing. A theologian debates whether he was even capable of writing. — In four centuries, people will speak of a “modern mythology” in the same way that we speak today of Copernicus and Galileo. For theosophists, it is inappropriate to speak of “Ptolemaic childishness.”

Question Regarding the Authenticity of the Dionysian Writings.

[ 32 ] It is common today to regard scribes as more important than the intellectual authors (in this context, Rudolf Steiner refers to his experience as a Goethe scholar with the prose hymn “On Nature,” whose authorship is regarded as questionable by philologists). The Apostle’s disciple Dionysius wrote nothing down, because that was considered frivolous at the time. But his successors, who—in accordance with the custom of the time—were also named Dionysius, recorded his teachings in accordance with faithful tradition in the so-called Pseudo-Dionysian writings.

[ 33 ] It is not enough to act in good faith; one should convince oneself of the truth. Today, people have absolutely no concept of what is possible and what is impossible. The situation becomes tragic in biblical scholarship when it is so fragmented. Scholarship and nonsense often go hand in hand.

Can Jesus Christ appear to people on Earth?

[ 34 ] In the way it appeared to Paul, this is possible. It is then an initiation that can sometimes occur even without prior training. Beginning in the middle of the twentieth century, many people will have this experience.