The Rudolf Steiner Archive

Sixteenth Lecture

[ 1 ] Using specific examples that simply arise from the study of the physical world, we have attempted to substantiate certain truths that emerge from the inner life of the fifth post-Atlantean epoch and from the development of that epoch, as revealed by the sources opened up by spiritual science. In particular, we pointed out yesterday how important it is to note that even in external life, it is clearly evident how a certain crisis arose in the course of the 19th century. I have, after all, often pointed out how the very middle of the 19th century represents the crisis of materialism, and yesterday we were able to show, using a specific example from a nearby region, how certain indications—merely indications, but indications nonetheless—of insights that can come only through anthroposophy were present, yet how these insights are, as it were, buried, I would say, historically buried, just as one geological stratum is buried and another lies above it. And so one could demonstrate in many ways in the spiritual life of more recent times how the urge, the drive toward a deeper insight—such as that opened up by anthroposophy—was present, particularly arising from certain preconditions of earlier times during the first half of the 19th century, and how then, brought about by the great advances in the natural sciences, another layer—a completely opposite layer of human imagination and human thought—has settled over it, so that today what was already there is extraordinarily difficult to uncover. And those people who today derive their concepts and ideas solely from the uppermost layer—which covers the lower one—are, strangely enough, groping in the dark regarding what was already there. This gives rise to quite grotesque things.

[ 2 ] Especially when one looks at Troxler, who was also Swiss by birth and taught in Switzerland for a long time, and considers him within the broader context of European intellectual life—as I attempted to do in my latest book, The Enigma of Man— one can see in him that, although the insights now emerging through spiritual science or anthroposophy were not yet available to him, he was nevertheless—I would say—working toward them in certain concrete ideas. In a linear course of development—if such a thing existed in human evolution, though it is precisely not given to the human race—a genuine spiritual deepening might have emerged, the kind that must now be drawn from the sources available to spiritual science. Then spiritual science would hardly appear today, especially in this country, as a foreign plant; rather, it would appear to those people who are familiar only with the spiritual life of the 19th century through one of its most significant representatives as a continuation of that spiritual life. And if, in the atmosphere of Aarau, such a person—deeply rooted in Swiss spiritual life—were to speak in May 1916, he might say something like this: “With this anthroposophy, above all else, nothing foreign is entering our country, we Swiss; rather, we welcome in this anthroposophy an old acquaintance; for we were even granted the opportunity to hear a beautiful, magnificent definition of anthroposophy from our compatriot Troxler.” — In the context of the entire historical life of this country in particular, that would be the truth if one were to say it. But instead, in this Aarau atmosphere, in the text I spoke to you about yesterday, something quite different was said. First of all, this spiritual science is lumped together with other things in order, so to speak, to portray it as a quantite negligeable. It is said: “The overview may draw only on what is necessary for its characterization”—the overview that is to be provided in this speech.

[ 3 ] “Among these movements, all of which consist of immigrants to our country, the best known are Christian Science—commonly known as the ‘faith healers’—Mazdaznan, the Theosophists, and finally the Anthroposophists with their massive temple in Dornach.”

[ 4 ] So we see that, while it would so beautifully correspond to reality to welcome an old acquaintance here in anthroposophy, this very anthroposophy is declared to be an intruder. That, you see, is just one such symptomatic expression—one that could be multiplied not a thousandfold, but a millionfold in our time—a symptomatic expression of how our age is predisposed to tell untruths. This is precisely what one should study in the impulses underlying our contemporary culture: how the predisposition to untruth manifests in our time. Of course, one very quickly comes to realize why the man is telling a lie in this case. He obviously does not know the truth and has no idea about this truth, for he has presumably not read much of Troxler. But this is precisely the defining characteristic of our time: that the most unqualified people step forward and become teachers and enlighteners of the people, and that this must necessarily be connected with the spreading of falsehood. A lack of thought is what underlies such things.

[ 5 ] The point now is to view these matters in a deeper context. First, to recognize that these matters arise from the impulses we have discussed over the course of this week, and that our friends must gain insight into them so that, through spiritual science, they can properly engage with our life today. For it cannot be denied that many find it quite difficult, given their life circumstances, to assert themselves today as spiritual scientists—as adherents of spiritual science—in the face of what is happening in the outer world, and what, as one can see more and more clearly, naturally finds nothing in this spiritual science that it can understand. First of all, one must look into a broader context. Some time ago, we described how completely at odds with reality is what theorists—specifically, natural-science theorists—have to say today about the great advances in the world of facts that are, after all, available to them. The facts that natural science has brought to the surface of existence are truly admirable; they are indeed a great achievement. But what has been said about the struggle for existence, about natural selection, and about all the problems related to the issues of birth and kinship—all of that is as inaccurate as possible, a fact that is already acknowledged by natural scientists today. I even elaborated on this in my public lecture in Basel.

[ 6 ] But all of this, in turn, is connected to the way in which certain ancient traditions have resurfaced in modern times, and to the current form of these ancient traditions. It is intimately connected to this. Modern times have, after all, proven that they need the ancient era for cultural life. For the scholar of the humanities, this is not particularly surprising, for the scholar of the humanities knows that certain impulses recur in every age. Thus, naturally, impulses that intervene in the development of humanity in a different form during the fifth post-Atlantean epoch must also emerge as repetitions of those from the fourth post-Atlantean epoch. This fourth post-Atlantean epoch began, as we know, in the 8th century B.C. and ended in the 15th century A.D., and since that 15th century A.D. we have entered a completely new era, as can even be recognized outwardly—a fact we demonstrated yesterday with a few examples. But certain events that took place in the fourth post-Atlantean epoch are repeating themselves on a different level in our own epoch. And I would like to say: Outwardly, this fifth post-Atlantean epoch has certainly shown that it must even consciously carry over certain things from the fourth post-Atlantean epoch. Have we not seen how, in the 15th century, Greek scholars emigrated to Western Europe and brought ancient Greek scholarship in a new form first to Italy and then to the rest of Europe? What blossomed in European intellectual life as a result of the impulses arising from the traditions of an earlier time is what we call the Renaissance. And modern life is still more dependent on the Renaissance than one might think.

[ 7 ] But there are other ways to demonstrate everywhere how, with regard to certain matters, this fifth post-Atlantean epoch sought to build upon the fourth post-Atlantean epoch. Is it not a remarkable fact that Pico de Mirandola, at a time when one could still speak more freely about Christianity than today, in the 15th century, undertook to invite the most eminent scholars from all over Europe to Rome in order to discuss with them nine hundred theses, which were essentially intended to show how one might arrive at a worldview suitable for the coming age. Of course, for reasons that are obvious, nothing concrete came of this endeavor. But this Pico de Mirandola, who was deeply immersed in Greek culture, attempted to reinforce Christianity in all its profound wisdom by drawing upon Plato and Platonic philosophy, and he believed that, with the help of Plato—the Greek philosopher, that is, the greatest philosophical genius of the fourth post-Atlantean epoch—Christianity could be substantiated. In this way, he sought to build a bridge between Plato and Christianity. One might say what a wonderful prospect would have resulted from this if such endeavors had succeeded—if only another geological layer had not been deposited on top of it—if we in Europe today had a free, authentic Christianity permeated and infused with Platonic philosophy!

[ 8 ] But this, in turn, was preceded by something else. It was preceded by something that is, in the deepest sense, connected to many peculiarities of modern spiritual life. For if we cast a glance at the origins of Christianity—if we look at the time when that exalted Being whom we have come to know as the Christ incarnated in a human body, and at the time when that human life of feeling began to spread—a life of feeling linked to this greatest event in Earth’s evolution, to the Mystery of Golgotha, which alone gives meaning to earthly life—if one looks at this time of Christianity’s initial spread, then one notices that among those who initially brought Christianity to Europe as a small group of people, there were some—who were later called Gnostics, particularly by their opponents—who lived in the belief that the highest ideas and the highest wisdom were necessary to make the most significant event in the earthly development of humanity comprehensible.

[ 9 ] We know that it is a misunderstanding of today’s spiritual science to conflate it with Gnosticism. That is not the point, after all. Gnosticism is simply something that was lived in the first centuries of Christianity, then buried like an ancient geological layer, and it cannot be revived in its old form; for then it would take on a Luciferic character. What is today spiritual science or anthroposophy must arise entirely from our own time—and precisely this must be born entirely out of our own time—and must fully take into account all the great advances of the scientific worldview. Thus, spiritual science must not be conflated with Gnosticism; but it must be acknowledged that the Gnostics attempted, based on the highest ideas and through a spiritual understanding of the evolution of the universe, to comprehend the Mystery of Golgotha. And there is a profound effort of wisdom in the Gnostic systems. When we examine the matter from the perspective of spiritual science, we see everywhere how Christianity appears—I would say, carried by the Gnostic vehicle—as if born out of a broad wisdom. Now, one of the peculiarities of Western development from the beginning of our era right up to the present day is that this development opposed with all its might the wisdom in which Christianity was steeped. In a sense, the Gnostics were the ones who were most fiercely opposed. Consequently, very little of their writings has survived to posterity, and most of what is known about the Gnostics is derived solely from the writings of those who purported to have refuted them. Yet they did not refute them; rather, they merely eradicated them, and they merely suppressed the true wisdom. That is the peculiar thing—that which was to be suppressed by European influences: the very essence of wisdom. And therein lies the very origin of why even well-meaning people today say: Well, these anthroposophists—if one considers them in terms of their idealistic and ethical aspirations, that may still be acceptable; but what they seek to investigate regarding the evolution of the worlds and the evolution of humanity—even well-meaning people say—ventures into the realms of the wildest fantasy.” —For such a judgment to be possible, the sources of wisdom that also flowed in Gnosticism first had to be suppressed, so that later European humanity could hold the belief: The Lord grants His gifts in sleep—and people preach this so beautifully by saying that the Supreme must simply be. But what they really mean is that it must be convenient; it must not be necessary to expend any thought at all to find those realms, or even to undertake any spiritual development in order to discover those realms from which humanity’s deepest essence has welled up.

[ 10 ] And so we see the West developing precisely under this principle of suppressing Gnosticism. But this Gnostic element has not been entirely suppressed. It was suppressed among the people, among the broad masses, who—as we were able to discuss yesterday—were even denied access to the Bible until the invention of the printing press. But in a certain sense, the ancient wisdom that simply existed has nevertheless been preserved. It was preserved and allowed to live on, as we have already indicated, within certain occult brotherhoods that spread particularly within the cultural sphere of Western Europe—occult fraternities that have developed right up to modern times, some of which have persisted in older forms, and others in what today calls itself modern Freemasonry. We know that such occult brotherhoods, whatever their names may be, do indeed preserve a certain body of knowledge, a certain treasure of wisdom—but they preserve it only through tradition; they do not strive to keep this treasure of wisdom truly alive. Up until modern times, up until the dawn of the fifth post-Atlantean epoch, it was, after all, easy to keep such a treasure of wisdom within the circles of those occult brotherhoods, which shut themselves off from the outside world and selected for themselves the people they wished to admit, to whom they gave whatever portion of this treasure of wisdom they chose to bestow. Until relatively recently, it was relatively easy. Today, however, this has become more difficult, and as you know, there is a vast body of literature in which the various degrees of what is called “initiation”—with their rituals and so-called secrets—are revealed. In particular, there is a vast body of English and French literature in this field.

[ 11 ] All in all, however, it can be said that what is written in these books of this genre will not be of much use to anyone. Although there are plenty of people today who study this literature—even “with great effort”—the students of such literature remain, for the most part, those who can say: “Here I stand, poor fool that I am, and I am just as wise as before,” even though these people often do not shy away from—admittedly not often “with bitter sweat,” but still with great pomp—stating what they do not know. For this literature is written in such a way that anyone who lacks the necessary keys cannot penetrate it. This is because, in times when people no longer had direct access to the ancient Gnostic insights gained through clairvoyance, these things were also handed down, purely outwardly, within such inner occult brotherhoods. Certainly, there have been individual people throughout the centuries—albeit only a limited number—who knew certain mysteries connected with this ancient wisdom. But at the same time, these people chose a mode of communication that did not speak to the ordinary intellect, which was becoming increasingly prevalent among humanity, but rather spoke through all manner of signs and symbols. And so it became more and more common in those occult brotherhoods to communicate what was preserved as ancient knowledge through signs and symbols—through very specific symbols. And remaining silent about these symbols and their meanings was strictly required of those who were truly initiated to a certain degree. As a result, there was actually always a rather large group within such occult brotherhoods who knew the symbols but did not understand them. They then began to interpret the symbols. Nothing special comes of this; for only when one truly learns to read the symbols does something special emerge. Then there was a very limited, smaller number of people—who actually did learn to read the symbols. These people did attain a certain insight, a certain wisdom, which was in the same vein as the ancient wisdom that, as we know, had emerged from atavistic human clairvoyance. We can best understand what this ancient wisdom was really like if we once again bring to mind in greater detail a subject I have already touched upon in recent weeks. Let us consider, on the one hand, scientific research in modern times. I am referring less to the scientific worldview than to the way in which this scientific research is conducted. Here we must say: In the relevant institutions, laboratories, research facilities, observatories, clinics, and so on, the facts of nature are investigated. Certainly, over time, magnificent achievements have emerged from these endeavors, and it must be emphasized time and again that spiritual science fully acknowledges the advances of natural science. Magnificent, monumental achievements have emerged. But what has emerged is based, I would say, solely on the outcome of a fortunate groping in the dark. Anyone who follows the course of scientific research will already have noticed this. This is not contradicted by the fact that this scientific research has produced the great technological advances that influence our entire human life today. After all, these technological advances are also based on the fact that, in a sense, there is already a wise guidance at work in the way that certain things have been revealed over the past few centuries, which could then be applied to bring about our technological progress. But what all this scientific research has not led to is the revelation of certain mysteries that can be expressed through what can be investigated in laboratories, clinics, and observatories. Certainly, one could figure out how to make this or that powder by engaging in “scientific inquiry” in the spirit of modern times; one could discover how to build this or that machine, and one could then bring this or that machine to a truly magnificent level of perfection. All of that was possible. But the longed-for mysteries of existence did not reveal themselves. In modern times, one can know how a certain chemical compound—called phenacetin—affects the human body. One can know this because it has been tested. And everything that is attempted today in the name of technical progress is an application of what has already been tested. Research is not at all aimed at truly unveiling mysteries. This research sometimes formulates hypotheses; but hypotheses never lead to the unveiling of mysteries, but only to the imposition upon nature of what one had already conceived anyway. Thus, on the one hand, in recent times we have a natural science that, while conducting diligent and conscientious research from which one can learn a great deal, is ill-suited to interpreting the mysteries of existence. One can achieve an extraordinary amount with this natural science, but know absolutely nothing about the interconnections of existence. That is on the one hand.

[ 12 ] On the other hand, there are certain truths of faith, truths of religious creeds. These religious creeds state—to take a very common example—that the human soul is immortal. They say something about the nature of the deity and so on, but nothing is done to apply these truths to real objects—such as a soul that one now wishes to investigate, about which one wishes to speak in concrete terms. People seek concepts and ideas that, so to speak, do them good, that please them, and from which they can indeed derive edification; that is what they seek. But these ideas are not applicable to anything that actually exists; rather, they are meant to refer precisely to something that does not exist. One avoids applying these ideas to anything that is actually being explored in one’s immediate life. Thus, religious creeds, with their truths of faith, speak today of something of which no one actually has a concrete conception—something about which one, at most, convinces oneself that one has a concrete conception. If a person ever wants to speak sensibly about such things, he speaks as I cited to you the day before yesterday from a prominent contemporary theologian, who says: “You, natural scientist, there you have the human being of nature; I retain the human being of freedom!” — But if you then follow his arguments, he simply surrenders everything to the natural sciences, even going so far as to say that the human being of nature is such that his freedom is taken away from him by nature. I would like to know what he is even talking about anymore. He remains confined to what has been handed down to him through words. And such a person has nothing more than what has been handed down to him in words.

[ 13 ] Well, such things differ quite significantly from what ancient Gnostic wisdom actually was; but they have also applied their way of thinking and their mode of conception to whatever seeks to emerge—whether theoretically or otherwise—in more recent times. For everywhere in such occult societies—or in non-occult societies that nonetheless include occult circles—people speak of what is called “esotericism.” But what is often communicated in this “esotericism” is nothing other than concepts that do not refer to anything concrete that can be grasped, but are modeled after religious truths as they are often taught today without any concrete object. An esoteric truth does not become esoteric simply because one speaks of it with a certain drawn-out expression that conveys a sentimental and sublime air, saying: “Oh, that is profoundly esoteric; one must not say that… because…!” — What one is so often forbidden to say does not have very much substance. If we go back to earlier times, there were indeed things that were truly esoteric, and these were not communicated by certain individuals who possessed them to those who were not considered ready. But these were truly not abstract truths; rather, they were very, very concrete truths. Today, the outer world can only gain a sense of the concreteness of such truths by looking to the final vestiges of these older truths. And these vestiges are found precisely as the fourth post-Atlantean epoch is drawing to a close, so to speak, in its twilight. In Paracelsus, however, one can still find many hints—the last, faint echoes of the old, deeper insights; but when he speaks of these echoes of the old, deeper insights, he does not speak abstractly at all; he speaks very concretely—so concretely, in fact, that one can see how, in his thought, spiritual life flows together with natural life. For example, when he speaks of human beings, he speaks of salt, mercury, and sulfur. You can read more about this in my work: Mysticism at the Dawn of Modern Spiritual Life. So he speaks of external, natural things, but he speaks of the deeper nature of these external, natural things. He speaks in a way that makes it impossible to speak of these things today—but in which we will speak again once this spiritual science or anthroposophy that we are pursuing finds a fitting continuation. Then we will once again delve into that which is not meant to float in a fantasy world, but which is truly meant to immerse itself in the mysteries of nature; we will speak again in the most concrete way possible. These were merely the outgrowths of an ancient knowledge that Paracelsus still spoke of.

[ 14 ] You understand what is meant when one seeks to characterize this ancient knowledge. It is a matter of not merely turning one’s gaze toward some nowhere in the hope of developing truly spiritual concepts, but rather of using those concepts to penetrate natural existence—as it were, in a glass of water that is heated, and from which, as it cools again, salt settles to the bottom—observing the spiritual process, that very spiritual process that also takes place within our own human organism. As you all listen to me—since I assume that what that pastor in Aarau said is not true, but rather that you think for yourselves, at least the vast majority of you—something quite similar is happening within you as in that glass of water containing dissolved salt, which is treated in such a way that the dissolved salt settles to the bottom. And only when one can trace this entire cycle of phenomena—but as spiritual phenomena—through the various spheres can one speak of true Gnostic knowledge. And once again, Paracelsus saw something entirely different from what today’s chemist or physicist sees when sulfur burns. For what happens there when sulfur burns will, when you go home, lie down to sleep, and sleep through what you have thought through here, happen again within all of you. And so it was for Paracelsus that he saw the spiritual in the processes everywhere in external nature—but as I said: only the final vestiges remain. That was the old esotericism, which was truly bold enough to imbue itself with ideas that were of real value, that intervened in external existence. Consequently, however, this old esotericism was connected to the highest human activity, which was developed for social life. There was a certain power in the old esotericism; for whoever understood something of the spiritual world was capable of achieving something. Today, many people are capable of doing things, for they learn from the natural sciences how to perform tasks with a high degree of mastery; but they do not understand the matter, and those who do understand—that is, those who parrot words derived from understanding—are incapable of anything; they would prefer that the mysteries remain “mysteries,” as I hinted to you yesterday. Certainly, this time had to come, because humanity also had to go through a crisis in moral terms, and because certain mysteries must be reclaimed out of human freedom, which has only taken hold in our fifth post-Atlantean epoch.

[ 15 ] But the truth cannot be stopped. And in what I hinted at to you the day before yesterday—that certain people can already see how smoke, as it rises, becomes sensitive and responds to sound, just as flames themselves respond to sound—therein lies the beginning of an insight that must come in due time, an insight that will lead to what Goethe, for example, alludes to in The Invocation of the Spirit. For the beginning of this is, after all, this transformed perception of smoke that I hinted at to you the day before yesterday. But people today would only misuse certain things. Precisely the important things that must still emerge within our fifth post-Atlantean epoch—they must emerge only gradually, because people today would, after all, abuse them greatly. I will have to point to such things in the time to come. In particular, I will have to point out the relationships that currently exist between spiritual science and various branches of knowledge, such as medicine. And then, in the coming period, I would also like to speak about a very important topic: the so-called karma of the human profession; for the conception of the various professions will have to change significantly in the coming period—and indeed, very soon. If people were to continue to view what is called a “profession” in the way that stems from our present-day way of thinking, it would truly lead to social chaos. But more on that in later lectures.

[ 16 ] Today, however, I would like to draw attention to something else. Especially during the fourth post-Atlantean epoch, events unfolded in such a way that people began to carefully guard what they knew about the spiritual connections, particularly those between nature and human existence, and this practice carried over into those occult brotherhoods I have spoken of. These occult brotherhoods were—as already indicated—generally quite incapable of discovering anything about spiritual connections on their own; but they have preserved certain ancient mysteries. And those people today who stand apart from such occult brotherhoods—who often do not even suspect that such occult brotherhoods exist at all—would be astonished if they truly understood what lives in many a formula, indeed in many things, that exist within these occult brotherhoods, and how, after all, there are some people within such occult brotherhoods—who then make use of the masses at their disposal for their own purposes—who know certain secrets handed down from ancient times, even concerning physical existence. Certainly, most of this knowledge has been lost among the ranks of the unfortunate alchemists, those other unfortunate people who existed under this or that name precisely during the transition from the fourth to the fifth post-Atlantean epoch—people so similar to the one of whom Faust said, referring to his father: “He was a dark man of honor … who, in the company of adepts, locked himself in the black kitchen and, following endless recipes, concocted the calamitous mixture,” and then did this or that with this calamitous concoction, as you know from this scene in Faust. That was an age that experimented extensively, but in which true wisdom had, for the most part, already been lost. This true wisdom, however, had at least found refuge in certain occult brotherhoods.

[ 17 ] Now there is a law that one must certainly observe when such matters are even considered. This law could be characterized in the following way. One might say: Matters such as the survival of wisdom among human beings are not bound by the laws of the dead, but by the laws of the living. Therefore, life must always be present in the further development of these things. These things cannot simply be passed down through tradition, for then they would die out, and then, inevitably, what is good in them would turn into something bad. — And at first, the impulse to keep occult wisdom alive within these occult brotherhoods was not present. All they did was preserve a certain occult wisdom, shield it from the world, and make use of it wherever they saw fit—and then, at most, seize a certain power through all manner of atavistic-mediumistic machinations or the like. It must be fully understood that these things become worse and worse if they are not embraced by immediate life. Therefore, occult truths are least likely to thrive in those occult societies that preserve these truths, impart them to their members gradually through symbols, but do not work with them in a living way. That which is good and alive possesses the very nature of all living things: it must die after a certain time unless new life is breathed into it. But there was also a certain temptation inherent in the purely traditional preservation of occult wisdom within these occult fraternities. For those who are vitally connected to the spiritual worlds, this temptation need not be present to the same degree. But for those in whom the living connection has, in a certain sense, already withered away, the temptation I am referring to can very easily arise. And so certain occult brotherhoods were by no means free from the influence of such a temptation. Such occult brotherhoods have enough graduates and adepts who have placed what they perceived of human wisdom in the service of human egoism, be it the egoism of the individual or that of groups.

[ 18 ] In particular, it became increasingly common among certain occult brotherhoods to link what one can derive from occult wisdom with all manner of political perspectives and political impulses. And it must be said: such occult brotherhoods have very closely intertwined what they have often pursued with narrowly defined political tendencies. And in the case of occult brotherhoods, it is a defining characteristic of recent times that they have intertwined political tendencies with what was given to them through certain insights into interrelationships. — It is, of course, extraordinarily difficult to speak about these matters at the present time, because they are immediately misunderstood, and a certain period of preparation will indeed be necessary before certain things can even be articulated. But it can already be hinted at that occult brotherhoods are indeed concerned precisely with finding ways and means to steer the political affairs of modern times in their direction, to shape them according to their own vision—or, to put it simply, to gain political influence. And they have gained this in ample measure. And once the connections are uncovered between many of the events that have taken place in political life in recent times and the sources within the occult brotherhoods—from which these events have unfolded through all manner of channels that the public does not notice today—then strange discoveries will be made. For people today speak more than ever of insisting on their freedom. But quite a few who stand before the world today and speak of their freedom, delivering grand speeches about it, are anything but free. They simply have no idea how they are being pulled by various strings from this or that so-called occult source. And it would make for an interesting chapter to describe how this or that so-called influential figure seemingly projects their grand ideas into the world from the depths of their own soul, how they are celebrated by thousands upon thousands, how entire groups of newspapers write in support of this figure; it would be interesting to show how this machinery works—how certain occult fraternities pull the strings from behind the scenes—and how the influential figure in question would appear quite insignificant in the process due to his own individuality. For it must be emphasized that certain occult brotherhoods are already familiar with the sources of wisdom that were once tapped, as I have hinted to you in recent weeks, but that these sources of wisdom are frequently abused. And they are always abused when they are applied in the manner I have just described. Especially in an age in which, as has been the case so far in the fifth post-Atlantean epoch — as you can see from all the reflections we have made in recent weeks — occult knowledge has declined and people have, so to speak, been cut off from occult connections in their outer lives; those occultists who misused the ancient, traditional occult knowledge had to exert an even stronger influence—but in a harmful sense. For people were completely unprepared for this. This is why, whenever genuine occult knowledge emerges, so many means and ways are sought to render it impossible. Genuine occult knowledge, which simply represents the truth, is highly inconvenient for those who wish to exploit occult knowledge in secret. Here in our own context, this could be seen in an example that, while not among the most significant, can nevertheless illustrate a great deal. When the Theosophical Society exposed the Alcyone hoax, it was linked to far-reaching intentions. They wanted to achieve a great deal with it. The fact that people believed in Alcyone was merely a means to an end. The actual purpose lay in something entirely different. But that is also why people found it so unsympathetic when we vigorously rejected this Alcyone hoax, for they sensed that the matter was being seen through—and that, you see, is the most unpalatable thing for occultists fishing in murky waters when they realize that someone has seen through their plans, truly sees through things, and is not inclined to go along with them, but rather to follow an honest, sincere path. If, therefore, you study our entire movement as it has developed over the past two times seven years, you will see that we have always sought to maintain the right balance between public communication and the practice of spiritual science, and that great importance is even placed on truly stepping before people and actually saying what people today allow us to say. Furthermore, special emphasis is placed on ensuring that our friends understand how the demand to present a certain occult knowledge to humanity today arises not out of caprice, but out of the necessity of the times. And here it is indeed necessary to draw upon such significant minds as Troxler, who so beautifully expressed the longing for the kind of spiritual knowledge found in anthroposophy. But many, many people sensed that this anthroposophy must rise up from the upper geological layer that has accumulated on top of it.

[ 19 ] Certainly, one might easily think it is a pessimistic portrayal when, time and again, it is pointed out—precisely from this place—that the spiritual life of our time has reached a kind of impasse, and that this impasse reveals that salvation and help must come through spiritual science. But anyone who considers this exaggerated, radical, or too pessimistic has not studied the longings that have arisen in recent times among the finest minds of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. If you pick up any of Troxler’s writings, you will see that such longings are particularly vivid in his work; but he was at least still able—albeit not in the form of today’s spiritual science—to point toward anthroposophy. Later generations were no longer able to do so. I have often spoken to you about Herman Grimm, who is, in a sense, half-Swiss, since his mother was from Switzerland; and I have also recently drawn attention once again to how Herman Grimm characterized what people today learn in school as the Kant-Laplace hypothesis, saying that scholars of future generations will have great difficulty understanding how this fantasy could have been accepted by a certain era. This Herman Grimm, of course, could not turn to the humanities; the end of the 19th century was not conducive to that. But he saw the dead end into which modern intellectual life was heading. And it is interesting—infinitely interesting—to see how such people, such finely organized minds, such minds shaped by Goethe, speak constantly of something they do not actually know, but which must come. They speak constantly of something that must come. The answer would be what spiritual science could offer humanity. But they know nothing of it. Yet they speak from their longings in strong words—words that in some respects surpass even the radicalism expressed here in this very place—but which, precisely because of this, demonstrate that their understanding of these matters is not mistaken.

[ 20 ] Herman Grimm, the perceptive observer of human spiritual life—particularly from its artistic perspective—often turned his attention to the question: Where is this all leading, given what has come to pass in recent times? Certainly, he repeatedly consoled himself with the thought: A time will come when people will understand Goethe, when they will become more and more attuned to him. But on the other hand, other thoughts often crossed his mind as well. He was able to appreciate the great surges of progress that occurred in the 19th century; but he also saw the dark side of this progress. In a collection of essays published in 1890, there is an interesting passage that, I would say, expresses precisely these feelings. There, Herman Grimm says:

[ 21 ] “The world is driven by the urge to achieve an unknown goal, for the sake of which the tremendous efforts we witness are being made.”

[ 22 ] So, an unknown goal; what he sees are, in many cases, efforts toward an unknown goal. He says:

[ 23 ] “It is as if all the peoples of the earth, each in its own way, were sensing the preconditions for a universal intellectual struggle—to free themselves from the past as a dominant force and to prepare themselves to embrace something new. Inventions and discoveries, mostly of an unprecedented nature and often accompanied by far-reaching, immediate consequences, are driving this state of our expectant march forward in united masses. “Where to?”—asks Herman Grimm. You see, these questions have already been posed!—“Where to? We are animated by a feeling as if the sacrifices made will one day appear—each one individually as insignificant, but all together as indispensable.”

[ 24 ] And now he expresses in abstract terms the only thing he knows to say about the goal:

[ 25 ] “The goal is to transform all of humanity, in its final form, into a kingdom of brothers who, guided solely by the noblest motives, move forward together.”

[ 26 ] But if there is such a longing to unite humanity in a realm of brotherhood—which, as we have seen from lectures given recently, certainly applies to the physical plane—then this requires the common bond of an understanding of what is universally human. However, this universal humanity does not exist unless spiritual science can be disseminated; for recent developments have tended to fragment humanity. Herman Grimm goes on to say:

[ 27 ] “Anyone who follows history solely on a map of Europe might believe that mutual, widespread slaughter is bound to fill our immediate future.”

[ 28 ] We read these things today with a special sense of emotion when, in 1890, one looks at the fate of Europe and comes to the conclusion:

[ 29 ] “Anyone who follows history only on a map of Europe might believe that mutual, widespread slaughter is bound to fill our immediate future; whereas those who study it on a globe” — that is, in the context of the Earth and the entire world —, “may be assured that, on the contrary, the hour is drawing near when the Germanic peoples, united in the same spirit of the highest intellectual aspirations, will open the way to the true goods of human life for all the countless millions of Asia and Africa and whatever else the globe may harbor.”

[ 30 ] And now comes the sentence that shows how people who foresaw what was unfolding in the 19th century in the course of human history were able to speak about what they had observed with open eyes—unlike the majority of humanity, who remained oblivious. Herman Grimm goes on to say:

[ 31 ] “Let us allow this thought... .”

[ 32 ] He is referring to the idea of the brotherhood of nations, as he has just expressed it, and to viewing the Earth as a globe.

[ 33 ] “Let us entertain this thought, which seems to be at odds with our immense military armaments and those of our neighbors, but which I believe in, and which must enlighten us as to whether it might not be better, all things considered, to abolish human life by a collective decision and to designate an official day of suicide.”

[ 34 ] I think such genuinely serious statements, which reflect deep human feelings, might point to one thing: that seriousness is essential for life in our time. Let us imagine all that is going on in the soul of a person who expresses such feelings! But I know that many people read such a sentence just as one reads a newspaper today; they are unable to look into the gravity of our times because it is more comfortable to sleep. Yet this complacency—sleeping through the demands of our times—gives rise to a lack of understanding of spiritual science. The less one wants to sleep, the more one wants to realize how necessary it is not to sleep today, the more one will recognize that something like what spiritual science advocates is necessary for humanity. For us, however, who are engaged in spiritual science, it is necessary that we arm ourselves with this seriousness so that we may find the right relationship to the world that does not yet possess this seriousness.