The Rudolf Steiner Archive

Fourteenth Lecture

[ 1 ] I have already pointed out here that one repeatedly hears an objection to engaging with spiritual truths—an objection, incidentally, that is clearly marked from the outset as stemming from the human soul’s excessive complacency. It is the objection of those who say: I do not deny that when a person has passed through the gate of death, they enter another, spiritual world; but as for what this spiritual world is like, as for the state of this spiritual world—I’ll wait and see! Here on this earth, one must devote oneself to one’s material duties; one will then see what life is like in another world when one is transported to that other world. — It cannot be denied that this objection is very convenient. However, it is fitting for anyone interested in spiritual scientific truths to examine it carefully, for such an examination can strengthen their conviction of the necessity of truly engaging with spiritual scientific truths. To present this examination to you—I would say, before your very soul—let us once again today, from a certain perspective, bring to mind the relationships that exist between human life here and the human life that elapses between death and a new birth.

[ 2 ] Let us be clear about this: as human beings go through life here in their physical bodies, they truly take in only a part of what is connected to their lives into their ordinary consciousness, for things related to our lives are constantly taking place, yet they do not rush past us in such a way that we can bring them clearly and distinctly into our ordinary consciousness. We sometimes bring the facts only partially into our consciousness, but not the full significance that these facts of everyday life hold for us. Try reflecting on your day’s work in the evening; above all, think about which places—we could choose something else, but let’s take this as an example—you have visited, and which people you have come into close contact with as a result. All of this is of great significance to you, for your immediate surroundings are reflected in your soul. And of the many things that are thus reflected in the soul, only the very least actually comes into clear consciousness in everyday life. There is, after all, a great difference between, say, being near the Stuttgart train station at nine o’clock this morning and being out in the woods, for in both cases something entirely different has been reflected in your soul; something entirely different lives in your soul in both cases. We usually do not realize that this has a profound significance. It is only from, I would say, subtle hints in life that we can often discern the significance of such things. Let us just consider the following: You can observe it—not in this particular case, of course, but in other cases—if you pay a little attention to life. Suppose you came here this evening. Someone in the front row might have a reason to leave the hall before I have finished speaking; he stands up, makes his way down the aisle, and walks out. Someone in the third row saw him, but—at least I assume so—this person in the third row has been listening attentively—which does happen, doesn’t it?—and in his ordinary state of consciousness, he has actually only let this person who walked out pass by him half-heartedly, just a little bit. He will be able to notice that he perhaps dreams very little about what I have spoken of here. For if one could compile statistics on this, those among the esteemed audience who dream an awful lot about what has been spoken of here would probably not be all that numerous. But you will easily be able to see—perhaps not from this example, but from a similar one—that you dream about the person who stood up and walked out. That is to say: in numerous situations in life, you will be able to notice that it is precisely in your sleep consciousness that you draw upon those things that fleetingly pass through your consciousness during the day.

[ 3 ] This is why people know so little about what they have dreamed. For most of what is dreamed is of such a nature that it passes by quite unnoticed during the day. The things that are perceived quite clearly in consciousness are usually rarely dreamed about. People only dream about such things when they are linked to certain sensations, certain feelings, which, in turn, they do not bring clearly and distinctly into their consciousness. And upon waking, people remember so little of their dreams because they paid little attention to what they dreamed about in their previous lifetime. This is also connected to the limited ability to remember dreams. In short, what I mean to say is this: countless things rush past in human life that enter consciousness only very fleetingly, yet which have great significance for the life of the human soul, even if they remain in the unconscious or subconscious. Everything that, I might say, takes place between the lines of life has great significance once a person has passed through the gate of death.

[ 4 ] We have, after all, often had occasion to describe this period that a person initially spends between death and a new birth from a wide variety of perspectives. Thus, one aspect always blends into another, and it is only by adopting a wide variety of perspectives that one can achieve a certain completeness in this field. Everything that passes unnoticed by ordinary consciousness is then unrolled once a person has passed through the gate of death. And I would like to call what a person initially experiences over a long period of time “the unrolling of images.” Essentially, what a person goes through there is a process of experiencing the imaginative consciousness. A vast, vast number of images are revealed, depicting scenes from life that we have brought very little into our consciousness. And of what we have brought into our consciousness here, that which was scarcely touched by consciousness is revealed. The other aspects—those that were clearly conscious here—appear more as memories after death, like mental images or recollections; but what was given little attention here unfolds as if in images of the present.

[ 5 ] Today, it is particularly important to me to point out that the first third of life—the period between death and a new birth—is essentially about the unfolding of these images; it is essentially a life lived in the realm of the imagination. We can support these imaginations by establishing a connection between ourselves—those of us who remain here—and those who, being karmically linked to us, have passed through the gate of death. — Then comes the second third, in which this spiritual-soul life is more fully filled with inspirations. This is when it becomes clear to the human being what significance the images they first experienced have within the context of the whole world, and how they position themselves within this world context through these images. For everything a human being experiences has significance for the context of the world. One must not believe that it is insignificant to have once encountered a person—whom one may have paid little attention to—or to have been in their presence. It unfolds in images, and the significance it holds within the totality of world events is revealed through inspirations in the second third of life, between death and a new birth.

[ 6 ] In the last third of life, existence consists mainly of intuitions. Here, the human being must immerse themselves in what is present in their spiritual and soul environment. There, the human being lives as if immersed, with their consciousness, in what is present in their spiritual-soul environment. And it is precisely in this final third, through this immersion, that they prepare for the immersion into the physical body following birth or conception. The intuitions in the final third of life, between death and a new birth, are the prelude to that intuition—which is then, of course, subconscious or unconscious—that consists of the human being immersing themselves in the body handed down to them through the hereditary stream of parents, grandparents, and so on. And something remains with the human being once he has passed from the spiritual-soul world into the physical world. Consider this: since the human being has actually lived for a long time in spiritual-soul intuitions and is accustomed to living in them, he will still want to hold on to this habit to some extent once he has entered the physical body. And indeed they do. For what is—as you can read in the little book *The Education of the Child from the Point of View of Spiritual Science*—the primary striving of the soul during the first seven years of life, up until the change of teeth? I have said: a craving to imitate. The child always tries to do what is being done in its surroundings; it does not act on its own intentions; it puts itself in the shoes of those living in its environment and imitates them. This is the echo of the intuitions from the last third of life between death and a new birth. We are therefore born as imitative beings because we translate into physical life what we have been doing for a long time in a spiritual-soul manner in the other world over there. And one understands this—how the human being grows into this physical life—by looking back at what the human being has become accustomed to doing in the spiritual world.

[ 7 ] Here you see a thought from spiritual science presented to you—one of the many that are bound to emerge over the coming centuries and millennia of human spiritual life. These thoughts will, of course, have to change greatly from what has occupied people spiritually up to now. Consider that in recent centuries it has become customary, when reflecting on the question of immortality, to think primarily of what lies beyond death. People always ask: Can a human being preserve beyond death what they have developed in physical life? — That is what matters most to people. This question of immortality is certainly important, but it will take on a different aspect when one, I would say, considers the other half of the question of immortality—when one is no longer interested in: What follows death, and how does that manifest as a consequence of life here on Earth?—but rather when one asks: How does what we experience here in the physical body connect to what we have experienced before?—For the life we have experienced before, our life here is the afterlife. It is primarily in this direction that thought will turn toward this aspect. People will come to realize that they can only understand life here on Earth if they conceive of it as a continuation of the spiritual life from which they came. They will begin to take an interest once more in that life which preceded their earthly existence. One could say that, with the exception of the last third of the 19th century, people have still shown some interest in the question of immortality in the context of spiritual life; but they have been interested in the question of immortality only insofar as spiritual life in immortality is a continuation of earthly life. The philosophical scholars took this approach, but these philosophical scholars were, in essence—despite their claims to pursue unbiased science—in many respects truly pitiable people who, while believing they were pursuing unbiased science, did nothing more than perpetuate the prejudices that had arisen from certain intellectual currents. Consider that at the time of Origen, the Church condemned the pre-existence of the soul; that it condemned Origen precisely because he taught this pre-existence, so that the Church found itself in a certain dilemma: there was Origen, the greatest Church Father, and it could not be denied that Origen taught pre-existence. But this is forbidden in the Church. They found themselves in a major dilemma. Throughout the entire Middle Ages, people had become accustomed to teaching nothing about pre-existence. The professors of philosophy continued this practice, as did the writers on philosophy, but they believed they were thinking without any preconceptions. They did the same in other matters as well—matters for which I have already cited examples here. Now, above all, one must realize that the direction of thought, the direction of human perception, must undergo a profound change through spiritual science. This earthly life will only appear in its true light when one becomes aware that it is a continuation of a spiritual life. And it can only be understood if it is conceived of as such. But then, when one views the matter in this way, one will also arrive at a sounder judgment regarding the other side of the question. When one becomes more clearly aware that this earthly life has significance for life in the hereafter—that in the hereafter, human beings strive to come here to Earth to experience this earthly life because they need it—then, precisely on the basis of such premises, one will inquire much more deeply into the value of this earthly life than has been done so far.

[ 8 ] But one thing in particular will help you see just how important it is to ask about the value of this earthly life. Two things are often not clearly distinguished from one another, namely: a person thinks — and: a person has thoughts. — But these two things are actually very different from one another. Thinking is a power that human beings possess, an activity; and it is this activity that gives rise to thoughts. Now, the activity of thinking—this power that lives in thinking—we bring with us into this earthly life from the life between death and a new birth. We apply this power of thinking to the external perceptions received through the senses and form thoughts about the environment we have here. But these things in our surroundings have no significance for the life between death and a new birth, for there they are nothing. They exist only here for the senses. That is why the thoughts we form here about the things that lie before our senses have no significance for life after death; but what does have significance for life after death is that we feed our power of thought with anything at all, for this power of thought remains with us throughout the entire life between death and a new birth. The thoughts we derive from sensory perceptions cannot benefit us in any way after death. They serve only to provide points of reference for remembering the “I” during the life between birth and death.

[ 9 ] Imagine two people. One of them is not at all concerned with what can be learned about life in the spiritual worlds through something like spiritual science. He thinks only about what the senses present and what ordinary science teaches; but that is nothing other than what the senses present. And they say: I will wait to see what the spiritual world is like until I enter it. — These are, I would say, the less serious cases—from a certain point of view—compared to those who emerged in the 19th century and believed they had to deny the existence of a spiritual world with all the might of science, in accordance with the statement the poet has such a person utter: “As surely as there is a God in heaven, I am an atheist!” — It was precisely out of such a mindset that 19th-century atheism was sometimes born, out of such “thoughtful inner states.” But let us consider a person who simply refuses to engage in forming any thoughts here about the spiritual worlds. That would be one type of person. The other person is willing to form thoughts about the spiritual world. These are different thoughts from those we take in through the senses. Isn’t it true that these are different thoughts? There’s no denying it. For this is already evident in the fact that, in the view of most people living today, the thoughts through which a spiritual world is not perceived are considered the sensible thoughts, the real thoughts; whereas the thoughts described by spiritual science are regarded as the crazy, the fantastical, the wild thoughts, and so on.

[ 10 ] But let’s consider these two people. What is the situation of these two people once they have passed through the gate of death? The one who has not given any thought here to the spiritual worlds—who has thus allowed no thoughts about the spiritual worlds to pass through his soul—is, as a spiritual being after death, in the same situation as someone who has a physical body but nothing to eat, who must go hungry. For the thoughts we form here about the spiritual worlds are the nourishment for one of the most essential powers that remain with us after death: the power of thought. We possess the power of thought just as we possess the power of hunger here, but this power of thought cannot be nourished at all between death and a new birth. Between death and a new birth, we can have imagination, inspiration, and intuition, but we cannot have thoughts as such. We must acquire them here. We must enter into the life between birth and death so that we may acquire these thoughts here. We draw sustenance from these thoughts that we have acquired here for the entire time between death and a new birth, and we hunger for these thoughts when we do not have them. That is the difference. Anyone who refuses to engage in thoughts about the spiritual worlds here is doomed to become spiritually starved. And the one who is able to satisfy himself and thereby live between death and a new birth is the person I mentioned second—the one who engages in thoughts such as those we pursue here. If, therefore, materialism were to become the sole worldview of humanity, then—if I may use the expression—people would, in the future, between death and a new birth, increasingly succumb to spiritual starvation. The consequence of this would be that they would enter the physical world in a withered state through their next incarnation. The spiritual world would wither away, and along with the spiritual world, the physical world would wither away in the future—a future that humanity still has to endure during this earthly existence. The saying “After us, the deluge” has succeeded in becoming a certain mindset for unsuspecting humanity, which does not know what truly matters. This saying—“After us, the deluge”—even if it is not put into practice, lies deep within the soul in a materialistic age. This saying makes no sense at all to those who know reality. For what humanity does in the present—whether it wishes to immerse souls in the spiritual worlds or not—is precisely what lays the foundation for the future of evolution as well. The very salvation of the Earth depends on humanity not ceasing to reflect on the spiritual worlds in the present. Those who live in the present must come to realize this more and more. For an immense amount depends on the course of human development being understood spiritually.

[ 11 ] We have attempted to develop key concepts regarding the spiritual worlds, for after all, the spiritual worlds extend into our physical world, and one cannot understand the physical world without understanding the spiritual worlds. And we have developed a wide variety of concepts. Well, a truly thinking person will come to recognize precisely that aspect of spiritual scientific thinking which is significant for reality. One simply cannot understand reality as a whole if one thinks solely in terms of the natural sciences, just as one cannot understand material existence if one thinks only in terms of the natural sciences and not in terms of the spiritual sciences. I would like to give you a very paradoxical, a strange example of this.

[ 12 ] I believe I also pointed out here some time ago that about a year and a half ago, a quite significant, substantial book was published by an outstanding contemporary naturalist, Oscar Hertwig, a student of Haeckel: *The Development of Organisms: A Refutation of Darwin’s Theory of Chance* . It is an excellent book that is entirely in line with the current state of scientific research. And I have taken many opportunities recently to highlight here and there the significant and defining aspects of it. For it is also a remarkable book from a cultural-historical perspective. You know that in 1869 Eduard von Hartmann came forward with his *Philosophy of the Unconscious*, at a time when Darwinism was in its heyday and had found its materialistic interpretation. Eduard von Hartmann opposed this. The natural scientists cried out: “Well, he’s just an amateur philosopher who talks about the spirit and understands nothing about the natural sciences!” — The story unfolded just as I have described it many times before. One day a book appeared about which even Oskar Schmidt, a student of Haeckel, wrote: “Here is someone who actually understands natural science. He really gave Hartmann a run for his money! We ourselves could not have put it better; let him come forward, and we will welcome him as one of our own!” — They promoted it like crazy. A second edition became necessary. Then the author revealed his name: it was Eduard von Hartmann! That’s when they stopped promoting it. Such a rebuke had to happen at some point to show people that those who speak of the spirit are still just as clever as those who deny the spirit. Eduard von Hartmann wrote various other works and pointed out how one-sided Darwinism’s thinking is. He did not find much resonance with this. But one can say: After calm, well-grounded research, a man like Oscar Hertwig has now come to think exactly as Eduard von Hartmann had already expressed in 1869. He even quotes him frequently in his own work. And everything is structured in an exemplary manner in this book, *Das Werden der Organismen* (*The Development of Organisms*). There, one can indeed study a prime example of something that was able to—and has—grown out of the contemporary scientific method.

[ 13 ] Now, you see, a few weeks ago the same man published a sort of sequel to this book: “In Defense Against Social, Ethical, and Political Darwinism.” One can hardly imagine a more foolish book than this one, which Oscar Hertwig has published as a follow-up to his first, epoch-making work. One can imagine nothing more inadequate, nothing more tinny than this book. You see, within the realm of our spiritual science, it is indeed necessary to cultivate a certain lack of authority; for if our dear friends—after I have praised that truly epoch-making book to the skies, and will always continue to do so—were now to buy the second book out of a sense of authority and say to themselves, “So we must regard this as something great,” they would be greatly mistaken. The purpose of spiritual science is this: to truly cultivate a free judgment; to be ready, in every direction and at every moment, to face the phenomena that come our way with a free spirit. Belief in authority cannot be cultivated in any way, even in these very corners of spiritual scientific endeavor; otherwise, the result will not be spiritual science, but a caricature of it. Where does what I have described come from? It stems from the fact that today one can be a great, epoch-making natural scientist—that is, one can be capable of developing everything concerning material processes and their phenomena according to the methods of the 19th and 20th centuries; but as soon as one begins to reflect on what lies within the human sphere—what lives within human beings, how people relate to one another socially, how they live together ethically and morally, how they seek to develop politically and formulate political ideas—at the very moment one begins to reflect on those matters in which the spiritual element plays a role, one can, even though one is a brilliant natural scientist, be an absolutely foolish person, for in this regard, natural science is of no use at all. And precisely such a literary example has emerged in our time to truly substantiate what one can indeed grasp through spiritual science—to truly bring it into reality. For if one reads this second book by Oscar Hertwig, one will notice that one actually finds not a single thought concerning social, ethical, or political life—as is quite fitting in the present day, since the present is, after all, not exactly rich in fruitful social, ethical, and especially political ideas. But this, in turn, stems from the fact that purely scientific thinking has been completely overestimated. And yet Oscar Hertwig has the best of intentions; he wants to separate this scientific thinking from social, ethical, and political thinking. But since he has nothing to offer regarding the latter, it does no good for him to reject the former. This book contains the most curious intellectual somersaults. I would like to draw attention to just one thing, always on the assumption that the first book I cited is an excellent one.

[ 14 ] People don’t realize it: Oscar Hertwig is an authority; our age does not blindly trust authority, but it falls for any authority that is officially presented to it. People allow themselves to be taught; there are some things they don’t even notice. But in his second book, Oscar Hertwig wants to make it clear to people what one must do to think scientifically correctly. He can do it, but he doesn’t understand what it is. One can, after all, do it instinctively. The methods are magnificent; one just needs to have been trained in them—there’s no need to have to develop in one’s mind what one is doing. That is why Oscar Hertwig arrives at the following strange line of thought. He discusses how one should actually conduct scientific research in order to understand the things in one’s surroundings. He says: Astronomers have provided the great model for physical, chemical, and biological thinking, and what matters is that people learn to think about physical, chemical, and biological phenomena in the same way that astronomers think about celestial phenomena. — It’s very evocative when one then says: Emulate the grandeur of thought found in Kepler, Copernicus, and Newton in order to understand the phenomena around you! — But just think for a moment about what lies behind this! The phenomena of life—the physical, the chemical, and the biological phenomena—are all around us; the facts are very close to us, and we encounter them constantly. And now we are supposed to gain scientific knowledge by focusing on facts that are as far removed from us as possible; that is, because we are as far removed as possible from the facts of celestial phenomena, we are supposed to derive from them the knowledge needed for what actually surrounds us. One cannot conceive of a more absurd idea than this. But thousands upon thousands of people read right past such folly and have no inkling that such follies are corrupting the entire thinking of the present, that, once it takes root, it must make people increasingly detached from reality. One cannot then gain insight into any social, ethical, or political structure if one proceeds from such thinking and such propositions. It is indeed one of the tasks of our spiritual science to see through, with clear eyes, what is present in the so-called spiritual life of the present.

[ 15 ] I said that we had to address the spiritual forces that, after all, extend into the ordinary physical world. And we have spoken time and again about how human life is, so to speak, situated within three currents of force: the Luciferic, the Ahrimanic, and the one that is truly appropriate to human evolution. I have also pointed out on several occasions that one must not say: “I will avoid the Luciferic, I will avoid the Ahrimanic”—for if one avoids them, one will only plunge into them all the more deeply; rather, one must be clear about this and must truly study and come to know how human beings are situated within these three currents. One must incorporate the knowledge of Lucifer and Ahriman into one’s life.

[ 16 ] Now, much of the social and historical structure of humanity over the past centuries or millennia has been strongly influenced by Luciferic impulses that originated within human beings. One could cite many, many examples of things influenced by Luciferic impulses, but I will mention just one, in which everyone will immediately recognize the Luciferic element.

[ 17 ] Isn’t it true that ambition and vanity play a major role in the way people position themselves at the various poles of their lives, the various perspectives on life? After all, many people would never have aspired to this or that position if the social structure hadn’t been the cause of this vanity being stirred up in one direction or another. After all, the entire system of titles, ranks, and orders ultimately rests on the Luciferic element. And just try, without bias, to reflect on how much of the way people position themselves in life has been brought about purely by their striving for these “fishing hooks” of ambition, for these baits. Try to consider how people are placed above or below one another; how social institutions rely on this ambition. Try to realize how this has shaped the social structure. In this area, Lucifer has played an extraordinarily significant role.

[ 18 ] Let us consider another phenomenon that is now beginning to be practiced and admired. And here, within the work of spiritual science, is the place to examine such things in an orderly, appropriate, and realistic manner. If you pay attention to some of the various things that are becoming popular today, you will find among them what are now called “giftedness tests.” Giftedness tests serve to single out the gifted from among children and young people. There is a danger that true idolatry will develop in connection with these giftedness tests. How is this done? There are trained psychologists who, while they understand nothing of the soul, understand psychology all the better; psychologists trained in contemporary methods and capable of selecting the gifted from among a group of young people or children so that, naturally, the right person can later be in the right place. It is believed that in the future, one will rely less on luring them with ambition or vanity, but instead conduct giftedness tests. These giftedness tests focus on the speed of comprehension and on memory. Meaningless words are jotted down, and the one who can remember them faster has a better memory than the one who can remember them less quickly. They administer intelligence tests. They give one word, then a second, then a third—words that have no connection—and then they have the students find a connection. For example, they write down “robber” and “mirror” and say: Now think of something that connects a robber and a mirror. — One student thinks: The robber sees himself in the mirror. Another thinks: “I have a mirror in my room; a robber sneaks in, and I see this in the mirror.” — The latter has thought more complexly and is therefore more gifted. Then the process is applied statistically, and those who are the most intelligent are singled out; they are then selected as the right people to be placed in the right positions.

[ 19 ] You see, anyone who, based on assumptions such as those being made here, objects to this magnificent achievement of our time is considered a complete fool who knows nothing about what is at stake.

[ 20 ] Well, let’s bring this whole matter into the realm of our understanding. What, exactly, are we testing when we examine people in this way? We are not testing anything that truly has to do with their soul. One need only consider this: that the most significant figures of the past—those who achieved the highest—would likely have been deemed untalented according to such tests. Consider even Helmholtz, regarded by people today as a celebrity; if he had been subjected to such a test of aptitude, he would most certainly not have attained the position he later held. These aptitude tests have absolutely nothing to do with the development of the soul’s capacities within the human individual, but rather with the sum of the Ahrimanic forces present within the human being. It is not the human being who is being tested, but rather the Ahrimanic forces within him, through the very act of administering this test. And just as one has hitherto relied on Luciferic forces, one is now beginning to rely on Ahrimanic forces and to establish a social structure built purely on the Ahrimanic. However, only those who truly engage with the content of spiritual science—those who wish to gain spiritual insight into the world—will be able to see through such things. For what I have just told you about the aptitude tests is being presented by a large number of people—and their journalistic sycophants—as one of the most significant achievements of our time, presented in such a way that the social structure of the future can be built upon the basis of this test. And the public—which, after all, does not blindly trust authority—this poor public has no opportunity at all to reflect on what such a matter is actually about. It has no opportunity to form clear concepts about such a matter. Yet that is precisely what matters.

[ 21 ] If, based on some of what we have allowed to take effect upon our souls, you form concepts today of what must first happen for humanity—what must happen in accordance with the current of spiritual development—then you are asking the right question. But then you will strive to understand human individualities in order to teach them what is truly of interest. You will not get around to testing the Ahrimanic faculties, for these Ahrimanic faculties would lead to humanity being treated entirely as nothing more than a collection of machines. After all, one tests only the spirit within the outer physical body. When people are subjected to these aptitude tests, they are assessed only insofar as they are machines. And a social selection is created that elevates only the best types of physical machines to positions of leadership over humanity. Nowhere is any consideration given to what lies at the very core of the soul—and what can never come to the surface in such tests. But I do not reproach anyone who today pursues such things with downright idolatrous zeal, for those who do not engage with spiritual science at all can do nothing else but submit to the judgment that this is the wisest thing one can do at present. But this gradually leads one completely away from real human vitality, from human reality. It leads into abstract realms, into that which is dead in human life and is ruled solely by the spirit of Ahriman. One must truly see through the full gravity of such matters—how people are being drawn away from what is real. And this is something that confronts us with particular intensity in the present: the drawing away of people from reality. For whoever has no sense of spiritual reality gradually loses, too, a sense of the ordinary external reality that surrounds them every day—unless they are compelled by their profession or other circumstances to pay attention to reality.

[ 22 ] I’d like to give you an example of this as well: Something very charming happened in the last few days. An article by Fritz Mauthner, the language critic, appeared in a widely read newspaper. In this article, Fritz Mauthner—who is an extraordinarily intelligent man—lashes out at a little book published in the series “Aus Natur und Geisteswelt” [From Nature and the Spiritual World], which explains—in a manner entirely in keeping with contemporary materialistic science, just as a modern university professor would—how astrological concepts have come about. At the end, the author analyzes Goethe’s horoscope and argues that it can be used to illustrate how events unfolded in Goethe’s life. But in reality, the good professor is merely mocking those who place any stock in horoscopes. He wants to portray them as something that can be interpreted one way or another. Fritz Mauthner rants and raves across three columns of the *Berliner Tageblatt*. It was impossible to understand why he was actually ranting. There was not the slightest cause for ranting. He actually shares the same opinion as the author of the little book; both view astrology from the same standpoint. And very soon, the *Tageblatt* also published a correction from the author, in which he states that he does not understand Mauthner; although he did not explicitly say in every third line, “I am railing against astrology,” he actually has no more interest in astrology than Fritz Mauthner does; he is in complete agreement with him. The *Berliner Tageblatt*—newspapers are very astute—adds that it has no reason to take the author’s side or to accuse Fritz Mauthner of any misunderstandings. Fritz Mauthner was, in fact, a long-time theater critic for the *Berliner Tageblatt* and now writes a sort of theater column for this newspaper.

[ 23 ] Fritz Mauthner, for his part, says he has nothing to say about the author’s counter-criticism either. We were faced with the strange fact that two people actually agree with each other completely, yet one is lashing out at the other. Fritz Mauthner, it seems, flies into a rage the moment he hears anything about astrology, or when someone writes about horoscopes. Otherwise, it would be inconceivable that he would have written this article. He writes as if the other man were the most dreadful astrologer imaginable, intent on forcing the validity of Goethe’s horoscope down people’s throats. So there you have an example of how two people fight each other—one voluntarily, Fritz Mauthner; the other out of necessity, because Fritz Mauthner attacked him first—two people between whom there isn’t the slightest difference. How can that be? Something like this can only happen when two people have absolutely nothing to do with the—already narrowly defined—reality in question, when both live out of something other than reality. The most striking example is that people today talk and talk, and talk very intelligently—Fritz Mauthner is a very intelligent person—but there is absolutely nothing behind the talk. There is not the slightest reason to speak this way.

[ 24 ] Here you have an example of a completely logical chain of thought that has absolutely nothing to do with reality. This is where thoughts end up that have lost touch with spiritual reality, for then the thought gradually loses all connection to reality. It is important to recognize this. That is also the terrible gravity of the matter. For ultimately, it makes no difference whether Fritz Mauthner and the Heidelberg professor are attacking each other and their words have no meaning at all because there is no reality behind them, or whether they are two politicians—one speaking in America and the other in Europe—who may even speak in unison at times, despite being completely different. If all the people who speak this way are completely alienated from reality, have nothing to do with what is truly alive in things, then this very alienation from reality sets in and spreads. It has spread. For the example I cited—that of Fritz Mauthner and Professor Boll—is merely a grotesque one. But it is present everywhere. That’s how things are done today. And where does it lead? It leads to conflict. It’s relatively easy to agree when one engages with reality; but when one takes this kind of stance toward reality, it leads to conflict. Little by little, people will come to realize how much of our catastrophic events is connected to this prevailing mood of the present, and what a serious matter it is. Just go out there—this is one of the most widely read newspapers in Germany—and ask its numerous readers whether they even notice the grotesque, the paradoxical nature of what is unfolding there! All of this passes people by. But it does not pass by the events themselves; there it has its bitterly harmful effects. For what is being done there is nothing other than the abuse of human intellectual power. Just think: if these intellectual powers—which are being wasted on nothing because they are detached from reality—were applied in the proper sense, then reality would be advanced, and this would be part of the normal current of life; but as it is, it benefits Ahriman. It is detached from reality for the middle current, but it happens; it slips into another sphere, and that is what matters. That is the gravity of the matter. It does not pass by as if it were nothing; rather, it slips into another sphere and creates facts. It creates facts that do not correspond to the true circumstances. For even outwardly, from a purely rationalistic, purely intellectual perspective, one can imagine how this creates facts.

[ 25 ] Isn’t it true that our age doesn’t blindly follow authority? People examine everything, and they keep the best of it! Nevertheless, it naturally happens that people do follow authority. A person like Fritz Mauthner has countless followers who believe everything he says without question. They are, of course, impressed by an article like this. Just think how many thoughts are stirred by an article like this. They are all drawn into the Ahrimanic sphere in which the article flows. The whole thing is unreal, and things are thrust into unreality as a result. That is what matters.

[ 26 ] What we wish to achieve with such matters, my dear friends, is this: to point out, again and again, the immense seriousness that lies behind such reflections. For it is indeed true: what I have described in specific cases, you encounter today at every turn. We are living in a time when we can only do what is right if we resolve to see things with absolute clarity—to see without prejudice, without bias—and to face life with an open mind. That is our task. And this is precisely what spiritual science is meant to lead us toward, by building a proper bridge between the human inner life and reality. For in this regard, people live in the most terrible mists of confusion. Once you begin to explore what comes to light, it is impossible to describe just how deeply people are shrouded in these mists today. It must be so, for people must learn to stand on their own two feet. People must learn to create clarity for themselves, not to rely on authority for clarity. This must become one of the greatest, one of the most important achievements of spiritual scientific endeavors for the individual human soul: to gain a free, clear, and unbiased judgment of what life offers all around us; to break the habit of what, in essence, dominates all of humanity today—namely, remaining asleep in the face of events. People sleep through what is right before their eyes. And shrouding them in a mist of confusion is precisely the aim of those who come forward one-sidedly with all sorts of monistic or “scientifically grounded”—as they say—ideas, but who are, in fact, nothing more than materialists. For they pretend, indeed claim, that they are building the very bridge to reality. They lead people away from reality. Tell Oscar Hertwig that he views things in an unrealistic way, and he’ll laugh at you; he can’t even see that he’s doing it. But as a scholar of the humanities, you must feel a kind of pang when you read that the next facts of life are to be viewed according to the pattern of celestial phenomena, where the facts lie as far away as possible. To go through life in this way—paying attention not to what we find in books, but to what we experience right before our eyes from morning to night—though of course not when we are among anthroposophists—offers nothing but the very things we must observe impartially today. For humanity stands at a significant turning point. And what I said is not a criticism of the times, but merely an emphasis on what is necessary, by stating: This is how it is. — It is good that things have turned out this way, for this calls upon people to stand on their own two feet and become independent. Divinity has not set itself the task of guiding human beings through evolution as dependent spiritual-psychic automatons; therefore, it had to allow them to find themselves in situations such as the present one. This is wise and good, but it must also be recognized in the right way and acted upon accordingly.

[ 27 ] To allow this attitude to emerge from the deepest impulses of our being as the innermost source of our vitality—that must be one of the outcomes of our study of spiritual science. Then perhaps we will not be indulging in a sensuous, comfortable revelry in otherworldly ideas—which feels so good when one wants to sleep through life—but rather we will be establishing that genuine worship of life which, through the most significant force for this Earth,

[ 28 ] It serves as a means to realize this divine-spiritual aspect in this earthly life.

[ 29 ] More on that next time.