The Rudolf Steiner Archive

Fourth Lecture

[ 1 ] The day before yesterday we spoke about the experiences of the human soul in relation to the mystery principles of antiquity, the Eastern and Egyptian mystery principles. With this, we have, so to speak, reached the final stage of the initiation process. For we have cited the four steps as characteristic of all mystery work: approaching the threshold of death, becoming acquainted with life in the elemental world, beholding the sun at midnight, and standing before the higher and lower gods. Standing before the lower gods means, on the one hand, perceiving those forces that govern everything related to human physicality—that which remains behind in sleep as the physical body and the etheric body. Here one is dealing with the lower gods in the broadest sense of the word. On the other hand, one speaks of the higher gods in connection with all the forces that have to do with the innermost being of the human being, that is, with what passes through the various incarnations: the I and the astral body. The day before yesterday I was able to describe what the experiences of a modern human being are like when they become acquainted with the mystery being, as they look back in the Akashic Records at the experiences that human souls underwent within the mysteries in ancient times. And we had to point out the tragic impression that the Egyptian souls to be initiated received in the face of the changes that had befallen that world power which, within the Egyptian mysteries, was designated as “Isis.” Isis—as is well known from the Osiris legend—had her husband taken from her, overcome and carried away by enemies, so that we see Isis deprived of that which we have called Osiris. But we have also come to know the consequences of this changed situation in Isis’s life for existence in the higher worlds. The soul that had ascended into the spiritual worlds in later Egyptian times became a participant in the fate of the god who was gradually dying for the higher worlds and descending into the earthly realm: in the fate of Osiris. For this is how the matter was perceived.

[ 2 ] It is now extremely difficult to speak in terms of ideas and concepts about the further development of this “divine destiny,” so to speak. But since we have become accustomed, when it comes to the most intimate matters of the higher worlds, to supplementing our language—which has already become so profane that its concepts and ideas are insufficient in words—with images, let what is to serve as a kind of leitmotif for today’s discussions be expressed in an image that you will surely understand.

[ 3 ] Let us immerse ourselves in the tragic mood of the initiate in ancient Egypt, and consider how this mood arose from the fact that he had to articulate what his experiences expressed: Once, when I ascended into the spiritual worlds, I found Osiris, permeating the vastness with the creative Word and its meaning, which represents the fundamental forces of all being and becoming. It has become silent and still. The god who was called Osiris has left this region. He has set out to penetrate other regions. He has descended into the earthly region to enter the souls of human beings. Only then did he, who had previously been spiritually known to human souls, also become manifest in physical life, when Moses heard the voice in the world that had previously only been audible in the spiritual worlds: “Ejeh asher ejeh!” I am the I Am who was, who is, who will be! And then the settling-in of this being, which had gradually been lost in the spiritual worlds as the creative Word for the experience of the initiate, passed into the earthly region so that it might gradually come to life in the souls of earthly human beings, and through this revival, in ever higher and higher glory, could fuel the further development of the Earth—until the end of Earth’s evolution.

[ 4 ] Let us try to vividly imagine ourselves in the mindset of such a person about to be initiated, as he felt the creative Word fade away in the spiritual regions he could initially reach, just as it submerges into the earthly realm and initially vanishes from spiritual sight. Let us follow the development of the Earth as this creative Word progresses before the spiritual gaze, much like a river that has been on the surface and then disappears beneath the Earth’s surface for a certain time, only to emerge again later in another place. And it emerged again, which the souls—who were in a tragic mood and were to be initiated into the later Egyptian mysteries—saw sinking down. It emerged, and in later times those who were permitted to participate in the mystery rites could behold it. And they had to translate into images what they could see, what was rising up again, but now rising up in such a way that it was now contributing to the development of the Earth.

[ 5 ] How did that which had been submerged in ancient Egypt rise up? — It rose up in such a way that it became visible in that sacred vessel known as the “Holy Grail,” which is guarded by the Knights of the Holy Grail. And in the ascent of the Holy Grail, one can sense what had sunk into the depths in ancient Egypt. In this ascent of the Holy Grail, we see before us everything that constitutes the post-Christian renewal of the ancient mystery tradition. Fundamentally, the term “Holy Grail” and everything associated with it encompasses the reemergence of the Eastern mystery tradition.

[ 6 ] Everything that occurs at a particular time in human development in order to further that development must, in a certain sense, contain within itself a kind of repetition of what has gone before. In every subsequent epoch, humanity’s earlier experiences must reemerge in a different form. We know that the third post-Atlantean cultural epoch of human development was characterized in particular by the human sentient soul, that the fourth post-Atlantean cultural epoch, the Greco-Roman epoch, was characterized primarily by the human intellectual or emotional soul, and that in the epoch that followed the fourth, in which we ourselves still live, the conscious soul is to develop in a special way. These things are all important for the initiate as well; for even for the initiate, the most significant forces of initiation must, in a certain epoch, emanate from that aspect of the soul that is particularly important for that epoch.

[ 7 ] Thus, Egyptian initiation was connected with the sensory soul, Greek-Latin initiation was connected with the intellectual or emotional soul, and so the initiation of the fifth post-Atlantean cultural epoch must be connected with the human consciousness soul. But what the initiate once underwent through the powers of the feeling soul must be repeated, even in this fifth epoch as it dawns, and likewise, what was undergone in the fourth post-Atlantean cultural period must be repeated. Then there is something new to be added: the supporting forces that must also be present for the initiator, arising from the consciousness soul. As it were, repetitions of what was at stake in the two earlier epochs must occur, and the new element, which is particularly important for the conscious soul, must be added. Therefore, the fifth post-Atlantean cultural epoch, where it particularly reveals the emergence of the new initiation, institutions that can repeat to the human being, to the human soul, the mysteries that poured forth through human development via the Egyptian-Chaldean soul, and can repeat the mysteries that poured forth in the period we call the fourth post-Atlantean cultural epoch, the Greco-Latin era, in which the Mystery of Golgotha also took place. And something new must be added.

[ 8 ] Just as in earlier times, so too in these more recent times, what has taken place in the depths of the mystery tradition finds expression in the outer world through a manifold variety of legends, which more or less express the mysteries in which the human soul is to share. It was therefore necessary for the mysteries of the Egyptian-Chaldean era to appear before the souls of the fifth epoch in a kind of repetition. These were the mysteries relating to the cosmos, to the inflow of the forces of the zodiac and the planets, but especially the mysteries relating to the interaction of the sun and moon and to the wandering of the effects of the sun and moon—I speak of the apparent movements, because they characterize the processes quite sufficiently—through the signs of the zodiac.

[ 9 ] But there had to be a difference between how these mysteries appeared during the fifth cultural epoch and the way they appeared during the third cultural epoch. After all, everything was meant to work its way into the conscious soul—into that which constitutes the human personality, that which forms the essence of the human personality. This occurred in a very special way through the fact that those inspiring forces which, when souls transported themselves into the spiritual region of the cosmos, were beheld in the third post-Atlantean cultural epoch and, as it were, streamed in from outer space onto the Earth, inspired certain people during the fifth cultural epoch. So that there were people in the dawn of the fifth cultural epoch who, not so much through their training, but through certain mysterious influences that initially took place, became the instruments, the bearers of cosmic influences, such as those emanating from the Sun and Moon as they passed through the signs of the zodiac. And what could then be attained for the human soul in terms of mysteries through these people was a repetition of what had once been experienced by the feeling soul. And the people who expressed the transformation of cosmic forces through the signs of the zodiac were those whom one called the “Knights of King Arthur’s Round Table.”

[ 10 ] There were twelve of them, surrounded by a crowd of other people, but they were the principal knights. The other people represented, as it were, the host of stars; into them flowed the inspirations that were more scattered throughout the cosmos; but into the twelve knights flowed the inspirations that came from the twelve directions of the zodiac. And the inspirations that came from the spiritual forces of the sun and moon were represented by King Arthur and his wife Guinevere. Thus, the humanized cosmos was embodied in “King Arthur’s Round Table.” What might be called the high pedagogical school for the feeling soul of the West originated from King Arthur’s Round Table. Hence we are told—and the legend here recounts, through images of external events, the inner mysteries that took place within the human soul at the dawn of that era—how the knights of King Arthur’s Round Table roamed the earth and slew monsters and giants. What is depicted here in external images points to those efforts made with the human souls that were to progress in regard to the purification and cleansing of those forces of the astral body which were expressed for the seer precisely in those images—in the images of monsters and giants and the like. Everything that the feeling soul was to experience through the newer mystery being is thus linked to the mental images of King Arthur’s Round Table.

[ 11 ] What the intellectual soul or emotional soul was to experience in the West during this more recent era has, in turn, found expression in legend, and is embodied in the legend of the Holy Grail itself. That which had to be repeated from the epoch in which the Mystery of Golgotha took place was concentrated in all that emanated from the mysteries of the Holy Grail. And from there, those effects that could take place in the intellectual or emotional soul—if one wished to understand one’s time—radiated out to those who gained an understanding of the Holy Grail. And even in the present day, these effects must be exerted upon the human soul if that human soul is to be initiated, if it is to have an understanding of what the spiritual essence of our time actually is. The Holy Grail is surrounded by many, many mysteries. Of course, only very sketchy hints can be given today regarding these mysteries; yet this can serve as the starting point for later, more detailed considerations that may one day be undertaken regarding these mysteries of the Holy Grail. For the Holy Grail contained everything—when understood in its essence—that characterized the mysteries of the human soul in modern times.

[ 12 ] Let us take a recent initiate who, having freed himself from the physical and etheric bodies with his ego and astral body, has emerged from the physical and etheric bodies and is looking at them from the outside. Let us take such a recent initiate and consider what he saw in this physical and etheric body. He saw something that, in a certain sense, if one does not learn to understand it thoroughly, could give quite a lot of cause for concern. And he still sees it today. Something is incorporated into the physical and etheric bodies that runs through them in various directions like currents, and also like strands. Just as nerve strands run through the physical body, only finer than the nerves, so is something incorporated into the physical body of which the occult gaze reveals: This is indeed dead—so dead that the human being actually has it in his own body like a dead part of substance. This is the very same thing that is now dead, that is condemned to death already throughout the entire life between birth and death, and that was still alive during the Eastern phase of human development. Indeed, one experiences that something in human bodies today is dead that was once alive. And now one investigates what this actually is—what lies dead within the human body like an inclusion, and what was once alive. “Dead” is to be understood relatively; although it is enlivened by the environment, there are certain tendencies and currents within the human body that, in contrast to the living, always have the potential for death. One investigates where this comes from, and one then finds that it comes from the following:

[ 13 ] In ancient times, human souls possessed a certain clairvoyance, and even in the final days of the Egyptian-Chaldean culture, this clairvoyance was still present to such an extent that when a person looked up at the starry sky, they saw not only the physical stars, but also the spiritual beings united with those stars. This made a different impression on the human soul when, in the intermediate states between waking and sleeping, it looked out into the universe and saw spiritual things, than the impressions that exist for the human soul today when one studies science in the modern sense, or when one lives at all with the ordinary consciousness of today. But all the souls living today, who are incarnated today, were also incarnated in the Egyptian-Chaldean era. All the souls sitting here today once looked out from their bodies into the starry space, participated in the spiritual life of the universe, and received impressions of it. This has settled within the souls; it has become a part of them. All the souls of today once looked out into the universe and received spiritual impressions just as they receive the impressions of colors and sounds today. It is at the core of the souls, and the souls built their bodies accordingly. But the souls have forgotten it! For today’s consciousness, it is no longer in the souls. And whatever constructive forces in the souls correspond to the ancient impressions the souls absorbed back then cannot now build the body; they leave the corresponding part of the physical body and etheric body dead. And if nothing else were to intervene, if people were to continue living solely with those sciences that relate to the outer physical world, then humanity would have to decline more and more, because the souls have forgotten—from the former impressions of the spiritual world—that which belongs to the enlivening and building up of the physical body and the etheric body.

[ 14 ] This is what the person to be initiated today sees, and he may say to himself: The souls are yearning to enliven something in the physical and etheric bodies that they must leave dead, because what they once took in does not rise up into today’s consciousness. That is the unsettling impression the initiate of today has.

[ 15 ] There is, therefore, something within the human being that is beyond the soul’s control. I ask you to take this very word quite seriously, for the essence of modern humanity is characterized by the fact that there is something within this essence of modern humanity that is beyond the soul’s control, something that stands as a dead element in contrast to the living environment surrounding the human organism. And by acting upon this dead element, the Luciferic and Ahrimanic forces exert an influence on human beings to a very special degree, in a very special way. While human beings can, on the one hand, become ever freer and freer, it is precisely the Ahrimanic and Luciferic forces that creep into that which is beyond the soul’s control. This is the reason why so many people in modern times find themselves saying—and rightly so—that they feel as if two souls dwelled within their breast, as if one truly wanted to separate from the other. Much of the mystery of modern humanity, of the inner experiences of modern humanity, lies in what has just been said. And the so-called Holy Grail was nothing other than—and is nothing other than—that which can nurture the living part of the soul so that it may become master of what has become dead. And Montsalvatsch, the sanctuary of the Holy Grail, is the school where one must learn for the living part of the human soul what, of course, one did not need to learn in the Eastern and Egyptian mysteries: where one must learn what one must pour into the part of the soul that has remained alive, so that one may become master of what has become dead in the physical body and of what has become unconscious in the soul. Hence the medieval view saw in these Grail mysteries that which related to the repetition of the Greco-Latin era, to the repetition of the experiences in the intellectual or emotional soul; for it is in this soul that what has been forgotten and has died is actually most deeply rooted. Hence, the Grail mysteries referred to the permeation of this intellectual or emotional soul with new wisdom.

[ 16 ] When the medieval initiate wished to illustrate what he had to learn in order to imbue the part of his soul that remained alive with the new wisdom, he pointed to the castle of the Holy Grail and to that which emanates from this castle as new wisdom—for that is, after all, the “Grail.” And when he wished to point to that which is hostile to this new wisdom, he pointed to another realm—the realm in which all those beings and forces dwelled that had made it their task to gain access to the part of the human body that had become dead and the part of the human soul that had become unconscious. This realm, into which—in the occult sense—all the descendants of the evil spiritual beings of earlier times had rightly been banished, those who had preserved the worst forces of Oriental sorcery—not the best forces, which had also remained— the realm that was the most malevolent in this indicated respect, the one most hostile to the Grail, was “Chastelmarveille,” the gathering place of all that approaches human beings, that part of the human body and soul which has undergone precisely such a karmic fate as has just been indicated. What is already more spiritualized today, what has passed into a wisdom that can be brought everywhere—because we are now already at the transition to the sixth cultural epoch, where these things are no longer bound to places—was, in that medieval time, as I have also indicated in the book *The Spiritual Guidance of the Individual and of Humanity*, still bound to certain localities. While it is indeed not inaccurate to speak of specific locations in reference to ancient times—so that one had to travel to a certain place if one wished to receive the relevant teachings—today we must speak in such a way that these teachings have a less local character; for we are living in the time of transition from life in space and time to more spiritual forms of existence.

[ 17 ] While the Castle of the Grail is now associated with Western Europe, the castle of the Grail’s adversaries must be located elsewhere, where a person, upon arriving there, may experience both a profound, powerful positive impression due to certain spiritual forces present there, and conversely, the opposite effect from other forces that have remained there to this day—like an Akashic aftereffect of those Grail adversaries mentioned here. For at that place one can speak of the worst forces, the aftereffects of which are still perceptible. Once, evil arts—one might say, taking place entirely within physical life—unfolded at this place, from which radiated the attacks upon the part of the human soul that had become unconscious and the part of the human organism that had become dead. And all of this revolves around a figure who shimmers legendarily from the Middle Ages, but whom those familiar with the world of the Mysteries know quite well—a personality who was a real figure around the middle of the Middle Ages, Klinschor, the Duke of Terra de labür, a region we must locate geographically in present-day southern Calabria. From there, the enemy of the Grail’s forays extended particularly across to Sicily. Just as we, when we set foot on Sicilian soil today and possess the occult gaze, see the Akashic aftereffects of the great Empedocles—as has often been mentioned—affecting us, as these are present in the atmosphere of Sicily, so too can the evil aftereffects of Klinschor still be perceived there today, who once allied himself from his duchy of Terra de labür across the strait with those enemies of the Grail who were settled there in that fortress which is called Kalot bobot in occultism and legend.

[ 18 ] In the Middle Ages, Kalot Bobot in Sicily was the seat of the goddess known as Iblis, the daughter of Eblis. And among all the evil connections that have occurred within the course of Earth’s evolution between beings whose souls contained occult powers, occultists recognize the connection between Klinschor and Iblis, the daughter of Eblis, as the worst of these. “Iblis” is, by its very name, characterized as related to “Eblis”: this is the name in the Muslim tradition for the figure we call “Lucifer.” “Iblis” is a sort of feminine aspect of “Eblis,” the Muslim Lucifer, with whom the one known as the evil sorcerer Klinschor allied himself in his wicked arts, through which he worked against the Grail in the Middle Ages.

[ 19 ] These things must be expressed through images that correspond to reality; they cannot be conveyed through abstract ideas. And the entire enmity toward the Grail took place at that fortress of Iblis, “Kalot bobot,” to which that strange Queen Sybille also fled with her son William in 1194 during the reign of Henry VI. Everything that has been undertaken as a hostile rule against the Grail, and through which Amfortas was also wounded, can ultimately be traced back to the pact that Klinschor concluded at the fortress of Iblis, Kalot bobot. And all the misery and hardship that shines into the Grail realm through Amfortas is expressed in this pact. This is why the soul must still be strongly armed today when it comes near those regions from which all hostile influences may emanate—influences that, in relation to the mysteries of the Grail, affect the ongoing development of humanity.

[ 20 ] If we look at it this way, we have, on the one hand, the realm of the Grail, and on the other, the evil realm of Chastelmarveille, into which the pact between Klinschor and Iblis has brought its influence. And here we have, expressed in a wonderfully dramatic way, an interplay of what the most independent, the innermost of the soul’s members—the intellectual or emotional soul—must endure in the face of attacks from without. In the fourth post-Atlantean cultural epoch, the intellectual or emotional soul was not yet as inward-looking as it had to become in the fifth. It withdrew from that life, which was more oriented toward the external world as it existed in Greek and Roman times, into the inner being of the human being, becoming more independent and also freer. But for this reason, it was, for the reasons cited, much more vulnerable to all those forces than in the Greco-Roman era. The entire transformation that had taken place with the intellectual or emotional soul is expressed in what stands before us, stammering, legendary, and yet so dramatic, in the contrast between “Montsalvatsch” and “Chastelmarveille.” We feel all the sufferings and all the triumphs of the intellectual or emotional soul resonating in the tales connected with the Holy Grail. Everything that had to change in the human soul in modern times reveals itself to those who have become acquainted with the nature of the mysteries. We need only point to a specific case.

[ 21 ] People who have not yet fully grasped this subject often point out the following: How, for example, can a person like Goethe, on the one hand, carry within his soul certain mysteries of the human soul, and on the other hand, be so often torn by passion, as is evident to those who follow Goethe’s biography in a somewhat superficial manner? And indeed: When we first look at Goethe, we see before us something that, in the strictest sense, is a “dual nature.” At a superficial glance, the two sides of him can hardly be reconciled: on the one hand stands the highly spiritual, great soul that was able to breathe life into certain passages of the second part of *Faust*, that expressed many deep mysteries of the human being in the “Tale of the Green Snake and the Beautiful Lily,” and one would like to forget everything one might know from Goethe’s biography and devote oneself entirely to the soul capable of such things, if one were to engage with that very soul. And then, in turn, there emerges in Goethe—tormenting him, piercing him in many respects with pangs of conscience—the other nature, “all too human” in many respects.

[ 22 ] The two aspects of human nature were not so distinctly separated in ancient times; they could not have been so divided. A person whose life story could be portrayed in the manner of Goethe’s could not have risen to such heights as those expressed in certain passages of the second part of *Faust* or in the “Tale of the Green Snake and the Beautiful Lily,” nor could their soul have fragmented in such a way. That was impossible in earlier times. It has only become possible in more recent times, because within human nature lies the part of the soul that has become unconscious and the dead part of the organism. What has remained alive can purify and refine itself to such an extent that there is room within it for what leads to the “Tale of the Green Snake and the Beautiful Lily,” while the other part may be exposed to the assaults of the external world. And because the forces described above can take root there, there may, under certain circumstances, be very little harmony with the higher self of the human being. One need only understand how the soul that lived in Goethe once also belonged to the Egyptian initiates, then lived in Greece, where it was a sculptor and at the same time a student of philosophy. Then there is an incarnation—probably only one—between this Greek incarnation and the one as Goethe, which I have not yet been able to find. If we hold this before our soul, we can see how such a soul, which in its former incarnations was able to master the whole human being, is led downward, but must then initially leave behind a part of the entire human nature upon which the evil forces can exert their influence.

[ 23 ] This is what is so mysterious and difficult to understand in personalities like Goethe. But it is also what gives expression to so many mysteries in the human soul of modern times. Everything that takes place there in terms of the dualities of human nature first affects the intellectual or emotional soul, and this actually splits into those “two souls,” one of which can sink quite deeply into the material, while the other can ascend into the spiritual.

[ 24 ] Thus, the “Knights of King Arthur’s Round Table” depict the repetition of everything that the initiate-to-be must, in a certain sense, experience in the feeling soul. What is depicted in the events surrounding the Holy Grail is what the intellectual or emotional soul can experience in modern times. Everything that a person must now go through in order to strengthen that part of their dual nature sufficiently to penetrate the mysteries of the spiritual worlds in modern times must take place in the conscious soul. This is the new element that must be added. And what must take place in the consciousness soul is expressed in all that crystallizes around the figure of Parzival. All the legends connected to King Arthur’s Round Table represent the repetitions of the experiences of earlier times in the feeling soul; all the legends and tales directly connected to the Holy Grail, apart from Parzival, represent what the intellectual or emotional soul must go through; and everything that finds expression in the figure of Parzival—this ideal of the newer initiation, insofar as this newer initiation depends on the conscious soul—represents the forces that must be acquired primarily through what we call the conscious soul.

[ 25 ] This is essentially how the interplay of the three soul elements of modern humanity is represented in the threefold legendary figure. And just as one can sense the deep mysteries of the human soul through older legends, so too can one now sense the profound mysteries of modern times through these legends. There is indeed something untrue in the attempt to create a mental image of the nature of initiation that has not changed since ancient times, and that a modern Westerner must pass through the same stages as a person from the ancient or even the modern East. Things do indeed unfold in such a way that what was characteristic at an earlier point in time continues into a later period for certain peoples. It is rather true that the entire nature of modern initiation has a much more inner character; it places much greater demands on the innermost core of the human soul, yet in a certain sense cannot directly address the outer aspects of human nature, so that, far more than in ancient initiation, the outer must be purified and cleansed by the inner becoming strong and taking dominion over the outer. External asceticism and external training belong much more to the nature of ancient initiation; the direct evolution of the soul itself, so that this soul develops strong powers precisely within itself, belongs much more to the nature of modern initiation. And because external conditions are such that only over time will the dead elements of human nature—which can be so troubling to the initiate today—be overcome, we must say: There will certainly still be many natures in our time and into the future similar to that of Goethe, who, with one part of their being, rise high, while with the other part, on the contrary, are connected to the “human, all-too-human.” Natures that in earlier incarnations did not at all exhibit these peculiarities—that, on the contrary, showed a certain harmony between the outer and the inner at that time—may be cast into more recent incarnations in which a deep disharmony between the outer and inner organization may become apparent. And those who know the mysteries of human incarnations will not feel misled if such a disharmony exists; for as these things increase, so too does the power of human judgment, and with that the old principle of authority comes to an end. Therefore, there must be an ever-increasing appeal to the examination of what comes from the mysteries. It would be more convenient to pay attention only to the outward appearances of those who have to teach, because then one need not concern oneself with whether the facts—what they have to teach, say, and do spiritually—are consistent with human reason and unbiased logic. Although the duality of human nature should not be defended in the slightest, but rather the soul’s dominion over the external must be demanded in the strictest sense, it must nevertheless be said that the facts indicated are entirely consistent with recent developments.

[ 26 ] For, in essence, the aftereffects of Klinschor and the Iblis are still present, albeit in a different form. In particular, we are currently facing an era in which these effects, these attacks emanating from Klinschor and the Iblis and gradually taking hold of people, are also creeping into intellectual life—into that intellectual life connected with modern education and the popularization of modern science. What people have long been taught, what is regarded as the right thing to teach a child and to cultivate in the child, and what is taken as the foundation of modern education—this is not to be judged merely by whether someone who believes himself to be quite clever says he understands things and that they are absolutely true, but everything must be judged by how it affects the souls, how it enriches the souls, what impressions it makes on the souls. And if one becomes smarter and smarter in this sense, as it is fashionable today to call people “smart,” then one develops in one’s soul certain powers that in this incarnation may prove very capable of holding sway where one wishes to live materialistically or monistically; but then certain living forces that ought to be present in the human organism wither away. And when such a soul, having absorbed only this peculiar dreg of modern education, then enters the next incarnation, it lacks the forces to properly build up the organism. The more intellectual, the “smarter” one is in an earlier incarnation with regard to the time we are heading toward, the more “foolish” one is in a later incarnation. For those categories and concepts that relate only to external sensory existence and to the ideas that hold external sensory existence together create a configuration in the soul—however refined it may be intellectually—that loses the intense power to act upon the brain and make use of it. And not being able to make use of the brain in physical life means, quite simply, being stupid.

[ 27 ] If what the materialists claim were true—that it is the brain that thinks—then one could indeed offer them some consolation. But this claim is simply not true, just as the other claim is not true—that the “language center” formed itself. It formed because humans learned to speak, and therefore the language center is a result of language. And so all brain activity is a result of thinking, not the other way around, even in history. The brain is shaped by thinking. If only such thoughts are formed as are common today, if thoughts are not permeated by spiritual wisdom, then the souls who today engage only in material thinking will no longer be able to make proper use of their brains in later incarnations, because the forces can no longer influence the brain, as they become too weak. It is the case that a soul who today merely, let us say, adds up debits and credits, or concerns itself with the customs of commercial or industrial life, or merely absorbs materialistic scientific concepts, fills itself with thought-forms that gradually obscure consciousness in later incarnations, because the brain, like an unplastic mass—just as with cerebral softening today—can no longer be penetrated by the forces of thought. Therefore, for those who look into these deeper forces of human development, everything that can live in the soul must be permeated by a spiritual understanding of the world.

[ 28 ] Thus, human nature in modern times may still be a dual nature. Into the powers that belong primarily to the conscious soul, human beings must take in knowledge—inner spiritual knowledge, spiritual insight. Human beings must overcome the two states that Parzival experiences: they must overcome the “dullness” and the “doubt” in their souls. For if they were to carry dullness and doubt into their next incarnation, they would not be able to cope with them. Human beings must become knowledgeable regarding the spiritual worlds. Only through the unfolding in the human soul of the life that Wolfram von Eschenbach calls “Saelde”—a life that is none other than that which pours spiritual knowledge over the conscious soul—only through this can the development of the human soul truly pass fruitfully from the fifth period into the sixth.

[ 29 ] This is one of the outcomes of the modern mysteries; these are the weighty, significant outcomes that must be taken from today’s mysteries, which are an aftereffect of the Grail Mystery. But it is also true that—unlike all older mystery knowledge—it can truly be understood by everyone. For little by little, the unconscious and dead forces of the soul and the organism must be overcome through a powerful permeation of the conscious soul with spiritual knowledge, that is, with spiritual knowledge that is understood and grasped, not with knowledge based on authority.

[ 30 ] Even such things as have been spoken of today can, when one takes into account everything that modern education and modern knowledge can offer people—and once they have been heard (for they can only be found by those who come to know the modern mysteries through direct perception)—be understood thoroughly, truly understood through and through. And they must be understood through and through! So perhaps in some modern person who is striving upward into the higher worlds, something of the “human, all-too-human” or of that which sets them apart from the human, all-too-human, may still be visible in their outward form. Yes, the “fool’s garments” may still be visible through the armor of the spiritual, as with Parzival. But that is not what matters. What matters is that the soul possesses the urge for spiritual knowledge, for spiritual understanding—that urge which is indelible in Parzival and which ultimately leads him to the castle of the Holy Grail. In what is depicted about Parzival, if one understands it correctly, one can find all the various exercises of the conscious soul that are necessary for the conscious soul to act in the right way, so that the human being can take possession of the forces that swirl about and struggle with one another in the intellectual or emotional soul. The more the modern human being turns inward and seeks self-knowledge—honest self-knowledge—the more they will discover how the struggle rages within their soul, a struggle that is a battle within the intellectual or emotional soul. For “self-knowledge” is, in this regard, something more difficult today than many people believe, and will, in fact, become increasingly difficult. One person tries to attain self-knowledge, and even if he is able to restrain himself outwardly in many respects and maintain a certain character, he often notices, when the moment comes, how the most hidden passions and the most hidden forces are stirring in his innermost being, how they are tearing apart precisely that which constitutes the region of the intellectual or emotional soul.

[ 31 ] And how, in our time, does the person who takes knowledge and understanding seriously often appear? The difficulty of this inner life may never dawn on those who see real, genuine knowledge and real, genuine understanding in external scientific activity or in the mere repetition of what constitutes that external scientific activity. But a soul that takes the urge for insight seriously and with dignity is different when it truly looks within itself. It goes forth, perhaps seeking in this or that science, seeking and seeking, seeking also to come to terms in life with what presents itself in human existence. After seeking for a while, it believes it knows this or that. But then it seeks on. And the more it seeks with the means of the age, the more it often feels torn, the more it feels drawn into doubt. And the soul that, having taken in the culture of the age, first admits to itself through this culture that it can know nothing—this soul is often the one that practices self-knowledge most seriously and with the greatest dignity.

[ 32 ] In truth, there can be no truly deep modern soul that has not been tested by gnawing doubt. The modern soul must come to know this gnawing doubt! Only then will it flow with powerful forces into that spiritual knowledge which is the very essence of the conscious soul, and which must first pour forth from the conscious soul into the intellectual or emotional soul in order to take hold there. Therefore, we must seek to penetrate in a rational manner what is presented to our conscious soul from occult knowledge. Through this, we will cultivate within ourselves a self that is a true lord and ruler within our inner being. Then, when we come to know the modern mystery, we will stand face to face with ourselves.

[ 33 ] This is how one who approaches the mystery must actually feel, standing before it in such a way that he strives to become one who seeks the virtues of Parzival, yet knows that he is still another: that he—through all the circumstances of modern times described, because he is a person of modern times—is the wounded Amfortas. The modern human being carries this dual nature within: the striving Parzival—and the wounded Amfortas. This is how he must perceive himself in his self-knowledge. From this spring the forces that must emerge from this duality to become unity and are meant to advance humanity a step further in the evolution of the world. In our intellectual or emotional soul, in the depths of our inner being, the modern human being—who is, in a certain sense, wounded in body and soul—Amfortas, must meet Parzival, the guardian of the conscious soul. And it is not spoken figuratively, but quite literally, that in order to attain freedom, the human being must pass through the “wounding” of Amfortas, must come to know the Amfortas within, so that he may also come to know the Parzival. Just as it was appropriate in Egyptian times to ascend into the spiritual worlds to come to know Isis, so it is appropriate in our time to start from the spirituality of this world and, through the spiritual nature of this world, to ascend into the higher spiritual worlds. This is not a true characteristic of our time if one wishes to deny the Amfortas nature. Because modern man so readily surrounds himself with maya, it happens that he wishes to deny Amfortas. For how beautiful it sounds when it is said: Humanity is always moving forward! Yes, but this forward progress takes winding paths! And in order to develop the Parzival forces within human nature, the Amfortas nature must be recognized within the human being himself.

[ 34 ] Thus, for this cycle, I initially endeavored—drawing on legends from which I sought to draw images of profound psychological processes—to convey at least something of their deeper origins to the modern mystery-seeker. Perhaps we will one day succeed in speaking, in even clearer terms if possible, of what the modern mystery tradition reveals about the nature of modern humanity, about the dual nature that human beings carry within themselves: about Amfortas and Parzival.