The Rudolf Steiner Archive

Third Lecture

[ 1 ] The first part of today’s lecture will be devoted to insights related to real-life experiences that our social karma has led us through recently, and the second part will shed some light on aspects of current events that may be of particular interest to us.

[ 2 ] In these two public lectures in particular, I felt it necessary to emphasize how, in order to conceive of the spiritual worlds, it is essential to gradually accustom oneself, so to speak, to a kind of language different from the one we use to describe the insights into the worlds in which we find ourselves through our sensory observation and through the intellect bound to the brain. In a sense, to support our friends, I would like to draw on specific recent experiences that have taken place within our wider circle—events for which I could certainly choose others, but I select these events because they tie in with, I might say, our most recent experiences and can provide us with insights into the relationships between the human soul and the spiritual worlds.

[ 3 ] I have, after all, repeatedly emphasized that when the soul, on its path of knowledge, crosses the threshold leading into the spiritual world, one of the first experiences is becoming one with what one experiences, perceives, and observes. Here on the physical plane, one stands, as it were, enclosed within one’s own skin, facing the things one observes. As soon as one enters the spiritual world—as soon as one has anything to do with the spiritual world—one no longer feels enclosed in the same way as one is within the physical body and its skin; one feels one’s entire being expanded, as if identified with the beings and events with which one is dealing. To explain this, I will discuss positive events.

[ 4 ] Recently, an elderly member passed through the gate of death. For years, this member had lived with his whole heart and soul in the ideas one acquires when one truly takes to heart what spiritual science has to offer. It is, after all, of very special significance—and this is why it is so often mentioned—that the theoretical assimilation of what is presented as spiritual scientific concepts cannot be everything. It can be a starting point, but not everything. These concepts must speak to our feelings and sensibilities. I was even able to explain in a public lecture how the feeling soul is currently much more closely connected to the eternal core of the human being, whereas what arises from the conscious soul relates more, in the present epoch, to what the human being experiences in connection with the physical world. That is why it is so important to feel what one can feel when taking in the insights of spiritual science, for this feeling has a much greater power to grasp our soul and truly bring it into contact with the supersensible world than mere thinking or intellectual reasoning. So, on an emotional level, the personality I am speaking of has lived deeply within our spiritual scientific concepts, and now it became clear to me—I can say— very shortly after death—when the actual occurrence of death on the physical plane had not yet been signaled to me in any way—how this personality, while still in its etheric body, was processing within itself the emotional and sensory powers it had absorbed, what it had become through having lived for years within the spiritual scientific current. While her etheric body was still united with her astral body and I, what I have described above occurred of its own accord. The individual who had passed through the gate of death came and announced to me that she now feels within herself what she had become through spiritual science, what she now feels within herself, now that she is no longer constrained by the physical body. And then, as it were, sentences resounded from the individuality that had passed through the gate of death, which I will read aloud.

[ 5 ] You will notice that in the first three lines, the deceased personality uses a word that one cannot really justify when it is used by an individual who has already shed the physical body; but that is not the point. The word referring to the physical heart is meant in a symbolic sense. Here, “heart” stands for the etheric organ of feeling. What we have here is a case in which an individual who has passed through the gate of death summarized what had been their most powerful experience before death as a result of their life, in order to say to themselves: I am now in a certain position to experience the nature of my self, as this nature of my self reveals itself to me, by grasping it with the understanding I have gained through spiritual science in my feeling cognition. — And so it was that this individual, who had passed through the gate of death no more than two hours earlier, gave voice to what resounded from within them in such a way that I must say: the words are arranged in such a way that I myself did nothing to them; I merely received the words that came from this self. These words then served as the beginning and the end when I had to deliver the eulogy at the cremation. They were read aloud:

Across the vastness of the world, I will carry
My feeling heart, that it may grow warm
In the fire of the sacred working of the forces;

In thoughts of the world, I will weave
My own thoughts, that they may become clear
In the light of eternal, ever-becoming life;

Into the depths of the soul I will dive
With surrendered thought, that it may grow strong
For the true goals of human endeavor;

In God’s peace I thus strive,
Through life’s struggles and worries,
Preparing my self for the higher Self;

Seeking peace that comes from joyful work,
Perceiving the existence of the world within my own being,
I wish to fulfill my duty to humanity;

Then I may live in anticipation
Toward my star of destiny,
Which grants me my place in the realm of the spirit.

[ 6 ] Let us hear here, as it were, the Self giving voice to what it feels within itself—through what it has become by filling itself with spiritual scientific insight. It is important to bear in mind that we are dealing here with a personality who had reached an advanced age in this physical life, and that this attainment of an advanced age is connected with the possibility of to characterize the Self—that the Self only fully expresses itself in its own essence after death, so that one has no choice but, in order to observe it, to lose oneself completely, to surrender, to identify with the essence, so that one can let it express itself entirely.

[ 7 ] The situation was different in another case. That case involved a death that occurred relatively early in life. Current events in particular urge us to consider such cases, since so many people today pass through the gates of death at a young age. In the case I am referring to, the cause was not the same as in many cases today, but it was a death that occurred at an early age. When death occurs so early that one can say: ‘If this person had grown old, they would have lived for many more decades,’ then we are dealing with an etheric body that will indeed be shed, but which is such that it could have continued to supply the physical body with vital forces for many more decades. Anyone who passes away in such a way that they could have lived for decades longer hands over to the spiritual-elemental world an etheric body that is still unspent. Countless such unspent etheric bodies are entering the spiritual world today. When we speak of having great hope, based on spiritual science, for the age that is emerging from the very heart of our events, we must take into account that those who are now passing through death will be witnesses in the spiritual world to a spiritual working and will, through their very individuality, send forces into earthly life. But their etheric bodies are still present as something separate, something special; they remain unspent. A great multitude of such etheric bodies will constitute a force that will influence the people who will be living once peace has returned, and they will serve as helpers so that the materialistic worldview can be replaced by a spiritual one.

[ 8 ] We can gain a deeper understanding when we experience firsthand how people die at a young age and we are then able, in a sense, to perceive what is happening.

[ 9 ] In the second case—where, once again, the karma of our spiritual current led me to speak at the cremation of a person who had passed through the gate of death—a considerable amount of time had elapsed between the onset of death and the cremation, from Wednesday to Monday. By then, the etheric body had already been separated, and as far as my occult observation was concerned, I had, so to speak, lost track of the etheric body the night before I was to speak; the etheric body had become unobservable. The individuality had already become detached, along with the astral body and the “I.” Here, the observing soul found itself facing an astral body and an “I,” and the impulse arose to once again begin and conclude the eulogy with words that had something to do with the individuality. Yet nothing emerged that the individuality itself had spoken. Because it was detached from the etheric body and the physical body, the possibility arose to express—in what I believe to be precise words—the entire nature of how this individuality had lived here on Earth. Again, these words are not as I have formulated them, but as an impulse of inspiration has shaped them—as they had to be, as they characterize the individuality that had passed through death. They arose as an inspiration of the contemplating soul as it surrendered to the impression of the personality that had passed through the gate of death. The words that emerged were:

You walked among us.
The gentle grace of your being
Spoke of the quiet power in your eyes
A peace that soulfully enlivens,
Flowed in the waves,
With which your gaze
Carried the inner workings of your soul
To things and to people; —
And it permeated this being
Your voice, which eloquently
Through the very nature of the word
More than in the word itself
Revealed what lay hidden
In your beautiful soul;
Yet the devotion of loving, compassionate people
Revealed itself fully, without words — —
This being, of noble, quiet beauty,
Proclaimed a sensibility
Receptive to the creation of the world’s souls.

[ 10 ] These words were spoken during the cremation, and what was remarkable was that the moment—which one could only loosely call a moment of awakening—occurred just as the heat of the furnace began to take hold of the personality’s physical body. And so, for this personality who had passed through the gate of death, there was a brief moment when the possibility arose to develop consciousness—not during the funeral ceremony itself, but after it was over and the heat was enveloping the body consigned to the fire. Then unconsciousness set in again. Such moments of consciousness can then, after being interrupted by unconsciousness, occur again until full consciousness sets in some time after death. In this case, it became particularly clear how consciousness functions once a person has passed through the gate of death. This consciousness perceives time in a different way than a person perceives time while living here in the physical body. This is especially significant in such a case. The perception of time by one who does not possess a physical body can only be compared to our perception of spatial dimensions. Here in our physical bodies, we can always look back; what we have seen remains fixed. When something has passed us by in time, we must look back at that image in our memory; it must rise up into our consciousness. This is not the case for those who no longer have a physical body. The disembodied soul looks back in the same way that we perceive space.

[ 11 ] And so the dead woman looked back at what had been said, just as one looks back across a room. What had been said now stood before her soul. It is precisely in such concrete cases that the peculiarity of the spiritual world becomes apparent. Now, I just said that during the time when the words of the eulogy were to be formulated, I had, so to speak, lost my etheric body for the purpose of observation; but a second observation showed that it was precisely this etheric body that had made it possible to receive the inspiration that was embodied in these words. When I was able to find the etheric body again—I mean for the purpose of observation—I became aware of where this etheric body had been while I was formulating the words. It was during the night from Sunday to Monday. I said I had lost it; it was only much later that I realized where it actually was: I was inside it myself. — It was a dissipating cloud. The “I” and the astral body had already separated. Because I was inside it, I did not perceive the etheric body—just as one does not perceive a cloud when one is inside it; but what lived within it provided the inspiration that enabled me to formulate the words I read aloud.

[ 12 ] There you gain insight into the intimate secrets of the coexistence of the human soul with the spiritual worlds. I would not dare to state this so readily if it had occurred in only a single case, but it has been confirmed to me once again in this third case. Once again, in this same instance, I found myself formulating words that characterized the individuality of this third personality—who had passed through the gate of death and was a member of our circle. The death of this personality was particularly painful for us on the physical plane, because she had given us the greatest hope regarding the spiritual-scientific work within our circle. During the time this individual lived here on Earth, they absorbed much of what is currently called scholarship, immersed themselves fully in it, and had the firm aspiration to do something that is necessary within our spiritual movement—namely, to become attuned to what is currently called science, and to transform this science within the soul itself so that it gives birth anew, on a higher level, to what is spiritual-scientific insight. Not everyone can do this, but it is one of the necessities of our spiritual science. Harmony between science and spiritual science can often lead those unfamiliar with spiritual science to a conviction, but it is necessary to become thoroughly imbued with contemporary science, and once this imbued state is present, to rise from it into spiritual science in a living way. One then reaches a certain point at which one feels the harmony between what contemporary science offers and spiritual science so surely—knows it so surely in one’s inner experience—that one can no longer be misled by anything arising from the current materialistic culture of our time.

[ 13 ] When this individual had passed through the gate of death, it once again became necessary to structure the beginning and end of the eulogy in a specific way for the cremation, and a special impulse arose to point out to this particular individual the bridge that exists for our spiritual scientific movement between the physical plane and the spiritual world. For our feelings on the physical plane, it is particularly painful that this individual was taken from us so young. But the spiritual scientific movement in which we live would not be able to inspire as much hope as it must if we were not certain that the forces flowing through spiritual science come not only from those living on the physical plane, but also from those who have already passed through the Gate of Death and are equipped with spiritual knowledge. Thus, the soul felt compelled to emphasize: “At this moment, as you have passed through death, something great is given to you: a call to remain a faithful co-worker even now, after you have passed through the gate of death.”

[ 14 ] Anyone who takes spiritual science seriously must count on those who are no longer on the physical plane as real collaborators.

[ 15 ] This gave rise to the need to coin words—words that, in a sense, I had no part in creating, but which arose out of a necessary impulse, just as I am about to read them aloud. You will soon see what these coined words are all about. The words are as follows:

A hope that brings us joy:
Thus you entered the field,
Where the spirit’s blossoms on Earth,
Through the power of the soul’s being,
Wish to reveal themselves to the seeker.

Your yearning was deeply connected
To the pure love of truth;
To create from the light of the spirit,
Was the solemn goal of life,
Which you pursued tirelessly.

You cultivated your beautiful gifts
To walk the bright path of spiritual knowledge,
Unperturbed by the world’s contradictions,
As a faithful servant of truth
To walk forward with sure steps.

You trained your spiritual faculties,
So that, brave and persistent,
On both sides of the path
They would push error aside for you,
And create space for truth.

To shape your self into a revelation
Of pure light,
So that the sun-like power of the soul
Might shine mightily within you,
Was your life’s concern and joy.

Other concerns, other joys
Barely touched your soul,
Because knowledge, as light,
That gives meaning to existence,
Appeared as the true value of life.

A hope that brings us joy:
Thus you entered the field,
Where the earth’s spiritual blossoms
Through the power of soul-being
Wish to reveal themselves to inquiry.

A loss that pains us deeply,
Thus you fade from the field,
Where the spirit’s earthly seeds
In the bosom of soul-being,
Matured in your spherical sense.

Feel how we gaze lovingly
Toward the heights that now
Calling you onward to other work.
Extend to your departed friends
Your strength from the realms of the spirit.

Hear the plea of our souls,
Sent to you in trust:
Here, for our earthly work,
We need strong power from the realms of the spirit,
For which we thank our departed friends.

A hope that brings us joy,
A loss that pains us deeply:
Let us hope that You, far yet near,
Will continue to shine upon our lives
As a soul-star in the spiritual realm.

[ 16 ] Some time later that night, something resounded to me from the person in question—not from his consciousness, but from his very being—as if in response, so that one could immediately perceive it as an answer to the words. Not as if the individuality had spoken those words from his consciousness. The individuality resounded as if in tones:

To shape my self into a revelation
Of pure light,
So that the soul’s solar power
Might shine powerfully within me
Was my life’s concern and joy.

Other cares, other joys,
They scarcely touched my soul,
For knowledge appeared to me as light,
Which gives meaning to existence,
As the true value of life.

[ 17 ] Only now did I realize that this was merely a rearrangement of the two stanzas—a shift from the second person to the first. You can see from this single example how a correspondence arises between the soul that dwells here in physical life and the soul that has passed through the gate of death. I would like to draw particular attention to the fact that such things are given in such a way that one cannot change the words, and you can see that I was not at all aware of why the words of the two stanzas were phrased that way. I only realized this from the response that came the following night from the soul that had passed through the gate of death. We must accustom ourselves, in this regard as well, not to immediately harbor toward the spiritual worlds the same kinds of feelings that are derived from our experiences here in the physical world. Please note that many factors come into play when one wishes to develop a truly understanding relationship with the spiritual world. As a small example, I could also mention this, which is taken from an entirely different source. When these difficult days began, these formulas that we now use were as if given from the spiritual worlds—formulas that I still use today to guide souls toward those who stand in the midst of events or who have passed through the gate of death:

Spirits of your souls, active guardians,
May your wings bring
My soul’s imploring love
To the people of the spheres (earthlings) entrusted to your care
So that, united with your power,
My plea may shine forth in aid To the souls it lovingly seeks.

[ 18 ] It says there: “Spirits of your souls.” I had to experience in Berlin that someone raised the objection that this was not grammatically correct; now, in the second line, one does not know to what “your wings” refer, because when one says, “spirits of your souls,” one is addressing those who live there as human beings, but one is, after all, addressing the spirits of those who live there. Thus, a pedant might think one should say: “Spirits of their souls.” Yes, we must come to terms with the fact that in the spiritual world, the grammar that applies quite naturally in the physical world is not always observed—that one must have greater flexibility in the soul there. One addresses them: “ Spirits of your souls,” but in the second line it goes without saying that one is not addressing one or a number of human beings, but rather the guardian spirits. Grammar is not decisive here. We must be clear that in the higher worlds everything is much more fluid, and that one need not divert one’s attention from the human being when addressing the guardian spirit. It is much more closely connected to the human being itself than two human beings are here. Physical grammar must be applied here because there need not be such a connection between two physical human beings as there is between the guardian spirit and the human being. So one could say: It is precisely through these words, as they are given—which are open to challenge according to physical grammar—that something is conveyed which is characteristic of the higher worlds. — When one receives such things from the higher worlds, the words become teachings. Sometimes one understands such things only much later; sometimes this learning is not as easy as the frivolous correction of grammar, which is, after all, no great art. We must find our way into such an intimate relationship with the spiritual world. Even in describing the higher worlds, it is essential not to capture them with the coarse turns of phrase one has acquired here in the physical world; thus, it is often quite easy to find a description of the higher worlds open to criticism, since in those realms the realm of the spirits of form loses its special power. When we cross the threshold, we enter the realm of the spirits of movement. Even the style must become more fluid there. The spirits of form pertain to the world that surrounds us. The style, too, must adapt to the realm of the spirits of movement. The time will come when we will become accustomed to such things, and we must not believe that the style suitable for the physical world can truly describe what is fluid and flowing in the spiritual world.

[ 19 ] I wanted to use specific cases—ones to which our collective karma has led us—to explain a few things about the relationship between the human soul and the spiritual worlds, for even more than through abstract descriptions, such concrete immersion into individual aspects of the spiritual worlds can make this or that clear to us; and above all, we can develop a sense that, through our spiritual scientific movement, a living interaction between the physical world and the higher world must gradually and truly come into being. In light of the many experiences we have had to undergo in recent times, we can say: The hope that certain things are already coming to pass with regard to our spiritual movement can only be truly and deeply rooted within us if we are certain that those who have already passed through the gate of death will be our helping collaborators. — This does, however, require that we grasp with intense seriousness the content and intention of our spiritual science.

[ 20 ] To summarize, I would like to mention something that has already been discussed in detail in the lecture series in Vienna on life between death and rebirth—something that is important to bear in mind. One might say—since we must use certain terms that apply to physical life—that after death, the human being is in a kind of unconscious, sleep-like state. Then they awaken, but “awaken” is not quite the right word. It looks as if, upon awakening, one were coming to a kind of consciousness. That is not the case. When a person has shed the etheric body, they do not have too little consciousness or a sleep-like consciousness; they have too much consciousness. They have a kind of overflowing consciousness. Just as one cannot see when blinded by overwhelming light, so too is there too much consciousness after death. We are completely flooded by infinitely potent consciousness; it must first subside to the degree we have acquired through our development in the physical world. We must find our bearings in this abundance of consciousness. What is called “awakening” there is merely a process of acclimating to the much higher level of consciousness we enter after death. It is a dampening of consciousness down to the level we can endure.

[ 21 ] Another point is that, I would say, each observation reveals more clearly how, for certain states of existence, experience in the spiritual worlds is precisely the opposite of experience in the physical world. This is also the case in an instance to which I now wish to refer. Between birth and death, the fact is that no one actually remembers their birth without higher insights. For no one is this a matter of personal observation. If one were to listen to those people who say they believe nothing but what their five senses tell them, one might object: Then you must not believe that you were once a small child either. You believe this only for the following two reasons: Because you see that all other people begin their lives this way, you conclude that it was the same for you. This is merely an inference by analogy, or else others have told you so. — It is through what we’ve been told, and not through observation, that we know we entered life through birth. No one realizes that this is merely an inference by analogy. One would have to say: I cannot know anything from my own observation about the origin of this physical body. When a person looks back on their physical life, they cannot see all the way back to their birth. It is different between death and rebirth. This is precisely demonstrated by the case where the inner impulse arose to send such words to the one who has passed through the gate of death—words that have something to do with his self, that characterized him. This impulse stems from the urge to serve the one who has passed through the gate of death, to make it easier for him to attain what he must have as soon as possible: an unobstructed view of the moment of death. For just as one rarely looks back on birth in physical life, so it is essential to look back on death between death and rebirth. Death is always present in retrospect; it simply appears different from the spiritual perspective. It may have terrible aspects from the physical perspective, but from the other perspective, it is the most glorious event one can contemplate. It reveals the splendor of the spirit’s victory over the physical by breaking free from it. This experience—which one has in retrospect between death and new birth—is among the most beautiful things. This is yet another example of how the physical world and the spiritual world are opposites.

[ 22 ] One gradually comes to understand the peculiarities of the spiritual world. These are points of view that I wanted to present to you today in aphoristic form. Another aspect is indirectly significant for the things we are now experiencing: the fact that in a person who, under normal circumstances, could have lived here for a long time yet, an undissolved etheric body remains as an individuality alongside the individuality itself. The dissolution of the etheric body takes only a short time in older people. We are always surrounded by such etheric bodies that have not yet been dissolved. We are moving toward a time when this will be particularly noticeable, because a kind of atmosphere is formed indirectly from these etheric bodies—one that has not yet existed in this way in the course of Earth’s evolution. One might think that something similar had already occurred in earlier wars, but things are changing because people used to pass through death differently. There were not as many people in the past who were surrounded in life by a materialistic mindset as there are now. This explains why these etheric bodies will emit spiritual impulses. Furthermore, there will be people here on Earth who know this intuitively and feel it with certainty. I have already alluded to this in the lectures—I would say—devoted to current events. What our time seeks to teach us is that, alongside spiritual superficiality, we also need to delve deeper into what will later emerge as its accompanying phenomena. Must we not, then, experience with immense sorrow the fact that in our time—which considers itself so logically enlightened, where scientific culture has spread to the widest circles through all manner of popular channels—something can once again take hold in the widest circles that we must regard as a judgment born of passion?

[ 23 ] Anyone who follows the voices of those who regard Central Europe as enclosed within a great fortress will soon realize what this passion is doing to people’s souls. One need only look to the west and northwest; there, one can initially stand in amazement at what human passion and judgment have brought about. Better newspapers will prove particularly instructive in this regard. How loudly do some of them shout: “We did not want this war!”—How senselessly do those who are hostile to the German spirit attribute the blame for this war to the very region that had the least cause for it: Central Europe.

[ 24 ] In this regard, the very nature of how the German character has developed makes it objectively possible for Germans to attain a kind of national self-awareness that is sorely lacking among other peoples. It will certainly be a long time after the events of the war before most people—especially those outside Central Europe—are able to gain a broad enough perspective on the situation to move beyond the most foolish judgments of the present. For us, who are part of a spiritual movement that seeks to pass on more than mere theory, it should be clear that even in the face of such grave events, an objective judgment can be reached, and that we can gain insight into many things in the present precisely because we are living through these fateful days. How easily some short-sighted minds criticize what belongs to the impulses, to the very core of our spiritual science. Painful experiences have had to be endured in this field in recent months. There is a spiritual science movement that claims it works lovingly to reach out to people without distinction of race and so on. One might ask: How does what I have put forward during this time fit in with that? — Before these difficult, fateful days broke upon us, I warned against interpreting the principle of equal rights and equal worth in such a way that it is turned into something entirely abstract. Do you remember how I often said: When people come and say, “Buddhists, Muslims, and Christians are just different forms of the same being”—that is like saying, “Salt, sugar, and pepper are all food ingredients, so it doesn’t matter which one I use”—and then sprinkling sugar into soup and beer because it is a food ingredient. Applying such a principle in such an abstract way may be convenient, but for those who are earnestly seeking, it cannot be the be-all and end-all. If we lovingly engage with the essential nature of the individual European nations, we come to recognize that the national soul speaks to the feeling soul in the Italians, to the intellectual soul in the French, to the conscious soul in the British, and to the “I” in the Germans. It is not by abstractly pouring love over everything that one arrives at concepts. The essence of our movement will consist in the human soul’s desire to rise to the universal human while acknowledging national characteristics. Spiritual science can lead the person born in Britain today to say: “I have come to realize that the national soul speaks to me particularly through the soul of consciousness—through that which governs the soul’s relationship to the physical plane, which enables human beings to be material.” — When he recognizes this, he realizes that he must shed whatever stands in his way as a result of his nationality if he wishes to rise to universal humanity. This insight is always helpful, and it is important to recognize what constitutes the distinctive character of each national entity. When a member of Russian culture says to himself: “The distinctive feature of the national soul is that it hovers like a cloud over the individual; that the individual, in a state of chaotic thinking, looks up to the national soul and is thereby compelled to find his way into the creative achievements of other nations”—then he will find his path. Those who, through spiritual science, recognize the essence of the Russian national soul will say: “Why am I Russian? The strength I have gained through this, I possess in order to absorb the strength of other nations.”

[ 25 ] Through spiritual science, the German will come to realize—and he must grasp this with complete objectivity and humility—that, through what the national soul speaks to his “I,” he is predestined to seek the universal human through his nationality. That he perceives what leads him beyond nationality—that is the national character of the German being. The concrete national character of the German being consists in the fact that, through the national, it is driven beyond the nation and into universal humanity. Therefore, the transition from German idealism to spiritual science is to be found in the flow of German idealism into spiritual science. It is necessary to strive toward a concrete grasp of spiritual realities. Spiritual science offers the possibility of comprehending these things concretely. — When one learns that a Frenchman like Renan says: “What he has received from German culture strikes him as higher mathematics compared to lower mathematics, when contrasted with what he has experienced among other peoples”—this expresses precisely what characterizes the German essence. We have, once again, the destiny of having to recognize this. We must recognize it; we cannot help but recognize it; but we must also recognize with the same objectivity that it is our destiny, if we are true Germans, to advance toward spiritual life, just as it is necessary for the British to shed materialism in order to enter into the spiritual realm. Different tasks arise for different peoples from their national character. For the German, it is particularly important to immerse himself in the spiritual worlds of that which flows through German culture. For the Russian, there is no such thing as a national essence. For him, there is only the possibility of gaining the power of blood that enables him to receive the essence of others. It becomes evident that the German essence has undergone significant developments in the evolution of the national soul.

[ 26 ] National souls, like human beings, undergo a process of development. Between 1530 and 1550, something special happens to the Italian national soul. Before this, this culture was not yet as isolated from the rest of Europe as it would be afterward. Prior to this point, the national soul acts within the soul; afterward, it extends beyond the soul, shaping the physical realm toward the national. The individual progresses toward independence from the physical. The national soul, on the other hand, first acts upon the soul and then upon the body, so that before the 16th century, the Italian national soul acted solely upon the soul; later, however, it extends beyond the purely soul-level into the physical realm, shaping the nervous system and the etheric body, so that the human being is defined and identified also in relation to the physical. Human beings become more rigid and increasingly close themselves off from other cultures.

[ 27 ] For the French national spirit, such a turning point occurred in the mid-17th century. That is when the national soul begins to shift from the spiritual to the physical, making the nation rigid. For the British, this does not happen until the mid-17th century, and Shakespeare does not yet belong to an era in which the national soul had shifted to the physical; therefore, the Germans understand him better than the British. Between 1750 and 1850, a kind of shift took place in the German national soul from the spiritual to the physical, but it then withdrew from it again. Among Western peoples, the national soul soars higher at first, then descends into the physical. Those that had previously descended into the physical then rose again into the spiritual. This descent took place between the mid-17th and 18th centuries. As a result, the German national soul remains more flexible. It does not remain down there permanently; it moves up and down, seizes the human being, and then sets him free again.

[ 28 ] These are things that will only be fully understood in the future. We must say that we cannot fully appreciate these difficult times—along with all their grandeur and significance—in the depths of our souls. These present events must be infinitely significant for those who are interested in the spiritual forces at work in the world. When people one day reflect on the causes that brought about the current events of war, one thing will become clear: The contrast between the national souls has contributed to these current war events; but no matter how earnestly someone in future times may search on the physical plane for the causes, they will always find something that fails to shed light on the matter, because the causes do not lie on the physical plane—rather, one can say of these events: spiritual individualities and spiritual impulses are at work within them. — Only when humanity comes to recognize this will it be possible to speak sensibly about the causes that brought about these events. People will come to realize that human beings were merely the instruments through which forces of good and evil worked. To arrive at this conclusion, we must be free of prejudice by immersing ourselves in what spiritual science can offer to the innermost depths of the soul—not merely to the intellect.

[ 29 ] It may one day be important to recognize how much of the sympathy expressed by the British world is truly and deeply connected to the national character. Then one will have to acknowledge something that has been weighing on my mind since July, even before the war had begun. At that time, one could hear various opinions. I am recounting this objectively; I would like you to set aside all personal considerations. It struck me that the world was in danger because such a terrible fool was directing foreign affairs in London. The world considers Grey to be a clever, perhaps even shrewd, man. Based on my intuitive impressions, I could never have regarded him as anything other than a fool; today I must regard him as a particularly foolish man whom Ahrimanic forces have chosen because, through his failure to reflect on matters, he was capable of causing particular harm. One cannot really prove, based on external evidence, that such a personality is a fool. Yesterday I bought a book and found in it a letter written by one of Grey’s fellow ministers. I only became aware of the letter yesterday, but I have regarded Grey since July as a fool chosen by Ahriman to wreak havoc. It is interesting for us to see how the letter’s author characterizes his cabinet colleague: “It is very entertaining for us, who have known Grey since the beginning of his career, to observe how he impresses his continental colleagues. They seem to suspect something in him that is certainly not there. He is one of the most outstanding sport fishermen in the kingdom and a quite good tennis player. He truly possesses no political or diplomatic skills; unless, that is, one were to recognize a certain tiresome dullness in his manner of speaking and a strange tenacity as such qualities. Earl Rosebery once said of him that he made such a focused impression because he never had a thought of his own that might distract him from a task entrusted to him with precise instructions. When a somewhat spirited foreign diplomat recently remarked admiringly on Gray’s quiet manner, which never reveals what is going on inside him, a cheeky secretary remarked: “If a clay piggy bank is filled to the brim with gold, it certainly doesn’t rattle when you shake it. But if there isn’t a single penny in it, it doesn’t rattle either. With Winston Churchill, a few nickels rattle so loudly that it gets on your nerves; with Grey, not the slightest rattle. Only the one holding the box in his hand can know whether it’s completely full or completely empty!” That was cheeky, but well said. I believe that Grey has a very decent character, even if a certain mindless vanity may occasionally tempt him to get involved in matters that hands committed to absolute integrity would do well to avoid. His excuse, however, is always that he is incapable, on his own, of surveying and thinking through any matter. He, who is by no means a schemer in his own right, can appear to be the most consummate schemer as soon as a skilled schemer chooses to make use of him. This has always been a temptation for political schemers to choose him specifically as their tool, and it is solely to this circumstance that he owes his current position.”

[ 30 ] This is an example of how one can be mistaken if one does not try to look at things objectively. In this individual, who is not distinguished by particular cleverness but rather by personal fishing skills that have nothing to do with the abilities that really matter, one can see the Ahrimanic forces at work—forces that necessarily had to act from within in order for these events to occur. One will gradually come to realize that, precisely in the face of these events, one must be clear about how the supersensible must be recognized in both good and evil. If one tries to understand these events based solely on what can be observed on the physical plane, one will not be able to understand them. One will come to see how the various impulses have flowed in, how what gave the impulse to these events had been preparing in the East for a long time, and how, out of the very things that can be observed in Eastern Europe, the factors developed that were bound to ignite the torch of war, and how the present moment brought about the war because Western factors became entangled in the arson from the East—for reasons that can only be understood by delving into the underlying causes. It will be important that these very historical events will compel people—if they wish to recognize the causes—to look toward the supersensible, rather than remaining on the physical plane; for otherwise, they will be able to argue for a long time. We will have to recognize that, perhaps more so than for other people, it is a necessity for the spiritual scientist to place himself on a more secure horizon than that which can arise from experience of the affairs of the physical world.

[ 31 ] It has been evident for years just how narrow the physical horizon can become. For many, a historical perspective only began to emerge in July. Even some in our circles indulged in strange judgments. The elements of what I wish to say have already been presented in the cycle “The Mission of Individual National Souls” in Kristiania. It also states there that what is to emerge in the sixth post-Atlantean culture is currently being prepared in the East. We are living here in the fifth culture. If one thinks abstractly—that from the fifth culture, humanity ascends ever higher to the sixth and seventh cultures—then one’s pride may swell. But such an advance is not the true progression of humanity’s cultural development. Up to the fourth culture, it was a repetition of Earth’s development. The fifth culture is the one that matters; it is something new that has been added, which must be carried over into the sixth age. The sixth culture will sink into decadence; it will be a declining culture. This must be taken into account. Connected to this is the fact that a thinker like Soloviev, who in a certain sense grew out of the Russian national character with its habitual traits, has immersed himself in the Western world; his philosophy is Western, though imbued with the temperament of the East, yet the way his sentences flow reveals his Russian roots. — It would be folly to say that someone immersed in Western European culture could be given something that transcends that very Western European culture.

[ 32 ] These have again been only fragmentary sentences, but you will hear through them the appeal to our spiritual scientific movement to try to use this difficult time also to see with concreteness and to grasp in concreteness that which can truly flow into our sensibility when spiritual scientific ideas flow into it. Our spiritual science will have to prove itself in the future precisely by finding its way through the passions that are so wildly agitated in our time.

[ 33 ] I am well aware that, since the beginning of these difficult times we are facing, I have spoken about these matters—both here and elsewhere—in a way that is consistent with an objective worldview. Yet, the things one has heard! One can also learn from what has happened in recent months about the state of many matters that are the subject of criticism in the outside world. We have often had to hear the judgment that a large portion of the members listen only to the judgment of one person, and that everything is based on blind trust. — Just how much of this blind trust there really is became apparent at that very moment.

[ 34 ] Regarding what was said about me, one could hear: “He’s using his occult abilities to waste time examining Wolff’s telegrams.” — It is strange that someone within our movement would have the audacity to say that I am using the truth from Wolff’s telegraph office to benefit Germany’s enemies! — That is just one judgment among countless others. There you see how what is now flooding the world in the form of desires and passions also plays a role in spiritual science. That must not prevent us from seeking the truth regarding what we are now duty-bound to emphasize. You will be able to see that.

[ 35 ] Essentially, things have always been the way they are now. What has just been said has always been said and done. I have emphasized before that this Theosophical Movement—which has now become the Anthroposophical Movement—never intended to develop in any way other than as a direct continuation of Central European culture. It was never a matter of allowing oneself to be led in someone else’s wake. When the British realized this, they immediately harbored suspicion toward these Central Europeans, who were not mere parrots of what British theosophy had to offer. A sense of truth compelled us to reject the British view of the Christ problem; it was of such a nature that it gave rise to the belief that Christ would reincarnate in a physical body, because they could not comprehend a spiritual coming of Christ. This revealed the impossibility of the two movements proceeding together. In English Theosophical journals you will now find letters from Mrs. Besant, in which she calls upon the entire Theosophical world in every way to act against Germany. There you will find a retrospective explanation of why the German Theosophical movement had to break away from the English one at that time. Mrs. Besant says: “.... Now, when I look back in the light of German methods, as the war has revealed them to us, I realize that the long-standing efforts to take over the Theosophical Society and place a German at its head—the anger directed at me when I thwarted these efforts, the complaint that I had spoken of the late King Edward VII as the protector of European peace, instead of giving the honor to the Kaiser—that all of this was part of the widespread campaign against England, and that the missionaries were tools, skillfully used by the German agents here” (in India), “to carry out their plans. “If they had been able to transform the Theosophical Society in India, with its large number of administrative officials, into a weapon against the British government, and if they had been able to train it to look to Germany as its spiritual guide, instead of standing up, as it has always done, for the equal alliance of two free nations—then it could gradually have become a conduit for poison in India.”

[ 36 ] [Gap in the postscript] This person figured out what I wanted back then. — There you can see the reasons why this war between Germany and England broke out. But you can also see that our struggle concerning the spiritual preceded the current one. Many things that had to happen back then may now be understood differently.

[ 37 ] The advocacy of occultism [?] is a double-edged sword. It must be said time and again that a sense of truth must deeply permeate the souls of those who wish to bring healing—and not harm—to the world through occultism. How this relates to what must penetrate our souls through the events of the times—what we, as those devoted to the occult, are to learn from these events—can become clear to us through the following thought: When peace returns, there will be unused etheric bodies in the spiritual world that wish to bring down forces. From the souls inspired by spiritual science, forces will also rise to connect with the forces from above; then what spiritual science can be will be significant for the progress and well-being of humanity. If there are truly many souls who feel this in truth and objectivity, if many souls, with thoughts inspired by a spiritual worldview, yearn upward toward the spiritual worlds, then the difficulties of our time will also have value for these souls. That is why I would like to express the connection of our spiritual striving today through the words:

From the courage of the fighters,
From the blood of the battles,
From the suffering of the forsaken,
From the sacrifices of the people
The fruit of the spirit grows
Guiding souls, spiritually aware,
Toward the realm of the spirit.