The Rudolf Steiner Archive

4. Behind the Scenes of External Events II

[ 1 ] In the lecture I gave here eight days ago, I wanted to address the topic that is now so urgently in need of discussion—the topic that is being forcefully demanded by the events that are so tragically intervening in human life—the topic that could be briefly described with the words: Humanity urgently needs to return to the realization, to the awareness, that the world unfolding here in the physical realm is connected to a concrete spiritual world. Humanity urgently needs to bring itself to the awareness that a spiritual world influences the physical world down to the very details of existence.

[ 2 ] Now, it must be said that our time, in particular, must be attentive to the spread of this awareness among humanity. For modern humans, outwardly and physically, do not differ all that significantly from the people of those past eras that are usually taken into account in historical analysis. After all, historical analysis does not go back further than, at most, the third post-Atlantean epoch. What lies before that is a rather vague historical perspective, and modern people are willing to accept only that. Humanity’s spiritual life has changed very, very much during this time. But one cannot say that outer physical life—the transformation of the organism—has changed to the same extent. And that is why people do not notice, nor do they make an effort to notice, what is actually taking place, what is unfolding, and what has its impulses in the spiritual world. We are indeed living in a significant time. This has nothing to do with the trivial remark often made, which is couched in the words: “We are living in a time of transition.” — Of course, every time is a time of transition; the point is simply to know what is transitioning during the time in question.

[ 3 ] That which is changing in our time, that is, what takes on other forms, what undergoes a significant transformation—this becomes particularly evident when one is able to direct one’s gaze not only toward the lives of beings who walk here on Earth in physical bodies, but also toward those beings who do not belong to the physical world, a group that certainly includes deceased human beings. In the world that a human being passes through between death and a new birth, the transformations—and especially the transformation of the present age—are significant and profoundly striking. People today are simply reluctant to take seriously anything that relates to the spiritual world. And the fact that they are so reluctant to take this seriously is something that evokes very special feelings and emotions when one thinks today about the origins of what we call anthroposophy. It is truly the case that one does not need to have any particular affinity for the ideas advocated by the anthroposophical movement in order to wish to advocate these ideas. In another movement—and what a variety of movements there are today, what a multitude of associations are being founded, all of which are convinced that they represent what is most essential in the world—in all such associations, all such movements, people have, I would say, a subjective fanaticism for their movement. They are devoted to their program, and they regard this program as something immensely blissful, as an absolute necessity. Such an attachment is not at all necessary for the anthroposophical movement; rather, the impulse to represent it can arise from something entirely different. And if I am to describe this briefly—after all, some things must be described briefly among us, since we can only be together for such a short time—I would like to say: That which compels one—once one has acquired the conviction of the truth of anthroposophical ideas—to do everything possible to spread these ideas is compassion for those people who need these ideas in the present—and that is, in essence, almost everyone we come into contact with—compassion for the people who must have these ideas and who are condemned to to suffer dire consequences if they do not have these ideas.

[ 4 ] Last time, I wanted to convey the idea that many things on the physical plane seem incomprehensible at first glance, but begin to make sense when explained in the context of the spiritual world. Today I would like to present to you a few other important points of view that, at first glance, seem to come from an entirely different direction. Let us start with something that we may encounter at every turn. One can say today that many quarters that consider themselves called to do so regard it as a sign of special religious enlightenment to reject ideas such as those we must once again embrace—namely, that as soon as one crosses the threshold into the spiritual world, one is dealing with many spiritual beings, with entire hierarchies of spiritual beings, angels, archangels, and so on up the hierarchy. It is regarded as a sign of special religious enlightenment to reflect solely on what is called the one God—this one God with whom one seeks the most intimate and direct relationship possible. This is, after all, regarded as the only possible form of monotheism, and some people already express horror when they hear that a teaching is now emerging that speaks of many spiritual beings.

[ 5 ] One must simply be clear about what this actually means. If a person develops only the kind of relationship to the spiritual world that is common practice in religion today—the kind that the church, which considers itself enlightened, particularly cultivates—then he enters into only a very specific relationship with the spiritual world, even if it is an emotional one; namely, only a relationship with his guardian angel, the angelic being with whom he has a real connection. And this angelic being, with whom alone they can establish a relationship, toward whom they can feel a certain emotional connection—this angelic being they then call their God; if they are Christian, they also call this angelic being Christ. They confuse this angelic being with the Christ. Perhaps this is difficult to imagine, but it is so. It is precisely those Protestant “theologians” who consider themselves enlightened—who so strongly warn against practicing polytheism in order to establish a direct connection to the one being, to Christ—who, no matter how much they speak to people about Christ, refer only to the relationship between the human being and his angelic being. Thus, in our time, monotheism is mostly in danger of becoming a form of worship of each person’s individual angel.

[ 6 ] Isn’t it true that even today people are still unwilling to admit to themselves many things that are, after all, a reality among them? The objective observer, however, can already see—I would say, based on the broad outlines of the situation—how people are preparing to develop all sorts of quite disastrous ideas and feelings out of such illusions. It is precisely in this worship of one’s own angel that everyone has their own god and merely believes they share a common one with others. In truth, the monotheists of today each worship only their own angel, and because the words they utter—when each discusses their relationship to their own angel, their selfish relationship to their own angel—are so harmonious, they merely believe they are speaking of a common God. If this development were to continue in this way, it would lead people—even as individual human beings—to develop more and more what we already see manifesting today in the nations in a truly appalling manner: the nations, even though they still speak theoretically of a unified divinity—in all seriousness, they do not wish to acknowledge this divinity, especially in this age; rather, every nation wants to have its own God.

[ 7 ] But that is only what stands out on the surface—I would say, what stands out in a crude way. In reality, every person today wants to have their own god and then calls the relationship they develop solely with their angelic being “monotheism.” Because, in an age when people seek to develop mere predispositions for the perception of the sensible, all relationships become clouded; therefore, people do not realize that this is as I have just characterized it.

[ 8 ] Well, you can see it everywhere today: When you talk to people who have not yet grasped any concepts of anthroposophy about the concrete connections between human beings and the spiritual world, they do not want to engage with such things. They are reluctant to engage with it. They do not want to muster the courage to connect their thoughts with any impulses said to come from the spiritual world. Something similar has always been present in times of crisis, and we are living in a time of crisis. It is with profound sorrow that one must observe how inattentive humanity today actually is to the events of the present—events that speak so clearly and so forcefully, tragic events—and how little people engage with them, except when compelled by material pressures to direct the necessary attention to these contemporary events. One might say that the individual must first be brought to heel in order to become aware that what is taking place in our time presents the human soul everywhere with profoundly transformative impulses for humanity.

[ 9 ] And that is precisely why people did not listen at all when the following judgment was asserted in any way: that important, far-reaching things must be conceived and undertaken by people of the present in order, so to speak, to escape the misery of the present, and that what must be conceived and undertaken must be born out of spiritual insights—out of concrete spiritual insights. Constantly emphasizing the spiritual in general, talking endlessly about how people should deepen their spiritual lives and so on—that won’t get us anywhere. What is at stake is that people today must establish concrete connections with the spiritual world. It might well be understandable to us that even in earlier times, when people still had a closer connection to the spiritual world, they were made aware of concrete connections to the spiritual world—connections that are simply no longer understood today. In earlier times, people did not just talk in general terms: “Down here on Earth, people are swarming about, and up there is something divine”—but rather, they spoke in terms of concrete connections.

[ 10 ] The most beautiful and significant expressions of such concrete relationships are, after all, prophecies such as those of Daniel and the Apocalypse, where it is not merely said: “You people, trust in a God; you people, believe in a God”—but where people are told: A kingdom, the second kingdom, the third kingdom—one must in some way succeed the other—where people are told in concrete terms about the connection between the spiritual world and the physical-sensory world here. Humanity has completely lost the ability to speak so concretely about the relationship between the spiritual and the physical. Humanity today would like to—if I may use the trite expression—lump everything together. Humanity would prefer to invent theories according to which people all over the earth can be made equally happy in an earthly sense. Today’s socialist believes that certain ideas are the right ones for human life—the right ones for England, for America, for Russia, for Asia; if all nations were organized according to the principles of socialism, then the happiness that modern humanity dreams of for the Earth would naturally follow. That is how people think. These are all abstractions, all unreal concepts and ideas; not realizing that in one part of the world, something is taking shape out of a certain national character, while in another part of the world something else is taking shape; not having the ability to understand the great difference between the West and the East: that is what is bound to cause infinite confusion and infinite chaos. For only when human beings have the ability to build a bridge from their souls to objective facts can they contribute fruitfully to the shaping of earthly existence.

[ 11 ] People do not want to build this bridge. In these times, driven by an inner necessity, I must speak to our friends again and again, in a wide variety of places, about an event that took place in the last third of the 19th century—an event that is significant and has had a profound impact on human development—an event that all occult schools know about, though they often do not know how to describe its course accurately. I would like to briefly touch on what this is about today as well. It concerns the fact that, beginning in 1841, a spiritual battle took place in the spiritual realms between certain beings from the higher hierarchies and superior beings. These beings, who rebelled during the period from 1841 to 1879 and waged a rebellious struggle during that time, were formerly employed in the service of wise world governance. Even those beings who, at certain other times, rebel, become evil entities, and turn into beings of darkness, are, at certain times, quite useful entities. So I am speaking of such entities that, up until the year 1841, were employed by higher spirits in the service of the wise governance of the world, but from that time on desired something different from their superordinate entities. These beings waged a significant battle in the spiritual world—one of those battles that occur frequently, though at different levels, so to speak—a battle depicted in legend and symbolism as the battle of Michael against the dragon. This battle ended with certain spirits of darkness being cast down from the spiritual regions into the earthly regions in the fall of 1879, and since that time they have been at work among human beings, entering into human impulses of will, entering into human motives, entering into what human beings can comprehend—in short, working in all that is human. Thus, certain spirits of darkness have been among humanity since the fall of 1879, and people must be aware of them if they wish to understand earthly events. One could say—and this is entirely correct—that these beings were cast down in 1879; this cleared heaven of them but filled the earth with them. From that time on, their place is no longer to be found in heaven; they are on earth.

[ 12 ] If I am to characterize what these entities actually sought to achieve with their rebellion from 1841 to 1879, I must say that they wanted to prevent—they wanted to ensure that they could prevent—the necessary spiritual wisdom, which seeks to reveal itself to humanity beginning in the 20th century, from entering human souls; they wanted to keep this wisdom above and not allow it to enter human souls. Only in this way could it be brought about that, starting in the 20th century, people might be opened to a sense of spiritual knowledge—that the obstructing spirits of darkness would be removed from the spiritual realm, so that the spiritual knowledge intended for humanity might descend. But here, where these spirits of darkness now roam among human beings, these spirits of darkness have once again made it their task to confuse people; from here, they now seek to prevent the establishment of a proper relationship with spiritual truths, effectively withholding the healing purpose of spiritual truths from human beings.

[ 13 ] This can only be countered by accurately recognizing and thoroughly understanding these things. Certain occult brotherhoods, however, have made it their mission to do the opposite; they wish to keep these truths confined to their innermost circle so that they can exploit them to satisfy their lust for power. And we are caught in the midst of this struggle. On the one hand, there is the necessity to guide humanity in the right way by helping it to absorb spiritual truths; on the other hand, there are closed occult brotherhoods of the worst kind, which specifically do not want these teachings to penetrate among people, so that people remain ignorant of the spiritual world, remain foolish, and those within these tightly closed brotherhoods can then carry out their machinations from there.

[ 14 ] The events of the present are rife with such machinations, and it will be particularly disastrous for humanity if it refuses to recognize that such machinations are at work. You will immediately feel a kind of light dawning on what actually lies behind this matter when I draw your attention to certain truths that are now ripe—truths, so to speak, that, like ripe plums from a tree, must fall from the spiritual world into the realm of humanity, but whose widespread dissemination is being hindered, and against which people also harbor preconceptions, preconceptions, and prejudices, because they fear them.

[ 15 ] I would like to speak as specifically as possible on this subject. The fact that in 1879 a number of spirits of darkness were cast down and have been in the human realm ever since has important and significant consequences. Above all, this fact means that thinking—clear thinking—has taken on an immensely greater significance for human beings since that time than was previously the case. Indeed, there has never been a period in human development in which—when one considers the inner necessities of that development—one must say that clear thinking is as necessary as eating and drinking are for sustaining physical life. For if people think unclearly in this age in which we live—and into which humanity will continue to live in the future—they will not be able to see such mature truths, which are meant to descend from the spiritual world, in their proper light. Above all, one will not be able to grasp the great, profound significance that the Mystery of Golgotha—the appearance of Christ within human evolution—holds for the entire course of human development. Many speak of this Christ Jesus. Yet the theology of our time even seeks to prevent us from speaking of the profound meaning that the entire course of human development on Earth has through the Mystery of Golgotha. Of course, what is to come about through the Mystery of Golgotha has unfolded only slowly and gradually. And it is only in this century that it is truly coming to the fore with such intensity.

[ 16 ] In ancient times, ancestral estates still existed from the era when people had an atavistic inner life permeated by spirituality. The fact that a person must acquire spirituality if they wish to have it is a phenomenon that has only emerged in our time. Consequently, very specific phenomena have been occurring in our time—and, in fact, only since the year 1879. Today, because our external perception has become so coarse, these phenomena are actually only clearly visible when one turns one’s soul’s gaze inward toward the realm that a person enters when passing through the gate of death. For souls born before 1879 arrive in the spiritual world in a different way when they pass through death than all the souls born after 1879 will arrive. This is a profoundly significant event.

[ 17 ] This profoundly transformative event, then, has the particular effect of making people’s souls increasingly resemble the thought—that which they regard as knowledge. This is a strange truth for people today, but it is a truth. Seeing certain things in the right light—that is, seeing them with clear thoughts, with valid thoughts, with thoughts imbued with reality—that is important; that is essential. Seeing Darwinism correctly, as I tried to present it yesterday in my public lecture, for example, is good. To view it as the foundation for the only valid worldview—that is, to view it in such a way that one believes only this one thing is true, that human beings are descended from animals—and also to bring this idea to life within oneself: “I am descended from animals; I originate solely from the same forces that also form animals”—this idea leads the soul in this age to become like its own conception. This is important! When this soul has then shed its body, it falls prey to the misfortune of having to see itself as resembling its own conception! Whoever lives here in the physical body with the belief that only animal forces were at work in their development is crafting for themselves, for the time after death, a consciousness such that they must regard themselves as an animal. — For now that the character of the fifth post-Atlantean epoch has been so fully realized through the events of 1879, “the thoughts that people form are meant to transform human souls into those very thoughts.” That is why I said: One need not have a preference for anthroposophically oriented spiritual science in order to advocate it, but one need only have compassion for the people who need these thoughts, because these thoughts are creative thoughts for the life of the soul, because human beings are called upon in the future to become what they regard themselves as being. — This had to come about in the course of the wise guidance of the world so that human beings might truly attain full, free self-consciousness. On the one hand, the gods had to give human beings the opportunity to become their own creation. However, so that human beings might be able to give this creation of their own a spiritual meaning—so that they might find, in what they create from within themselves, something that can give them an eternal direction—Christ Jesus underwent the Mystery of Golgotha. And when one understands him—understands him from the perspective of spiritual science, understands him intellectually—then one finds the path to him; the path out of the animal realm and into the divine.

[ 18 ] This truth becomes particularly evident when one is able to cast a spiritual gaze into the world that human beings enter after death. Those born before 1879 still carry with them a certain remnant that protects them, allowing them to be precisely what they were able to imagine here. And for some time to come, people will still be able to be protected—though things are only gradually approaching this state—so that they can simply be what they imagine themselves to be: but only through suffering, only if they are capable of suffering, if—to put it paradoxically—they can take upon themselves the suffering of insight by experiencing for themselves the inadequacy of their conception of humanity. Harmony with oneself, and at the same time a realization that allows human beings to remain human even after death—this will emerge in the future only if people become aware of their true connection to the spiritual world here in the physical body. Of course, those who, based on materialistic notions, are generally averse to concrete spiritual insights will be far from willing to accept that such a change took place in the year 1879; nevertheless, it is necessary that this be accepted. From this, however, you can see that one thing is becoming important—and must become increasingly so in the future—namely, that spiritual knowledge spread here on Earth. Therefore, in order to further their own interests, the spirits of darkness will place particular emphasis on stirring up confusion among people, so that people do not come to form the right thoughts here, into which they—these people—will then be transformed after death. A person must become what they think themselves to be.

[ 19 ] This is a truth that was destined to reach humanity beginning with the major transformations of the 19th century. Human beings must will to be what they can actually be; they must be able to reflect on their nature if they are to be spiritual beings. For even the dead can already proclaim it today as a legitimate, mature truth: The soul is what it is capable of conceiving of itself. — In the time when it was necessary to spread this truth from the earth—“The soul is that which it is capable of conceiving of itself”—spirits of darkness caused and inspired people to uphold as truth: Man is what he eats. — And even if, theoretically, it is not widely accepted that “Man is what he eats,” the practice of life effectively amounts to acknowledging that man is, in fact, nothing other than what he eats. Indeed, this practice of life even goes so far as to increasingly shape this reality in outward life as well. More than one might think—far more than one might think—the sad, tragic events of the present are merely a manifestation of the principle: “You are what you eat.” In a much deeper sense than is apparent in today’s superficiality, the things for which so much blood is shed today are of very little noble significance. Humanity is already infected by the maxim: “You are what you eat.” — In many cases, people are fighting over things related to this very idea.

[ 20 ] This is precisely why it is so necessary for ideas appropriate to our times to spread. The idea will gradually have to be recognized as a real power of the soul, not merely as that pitiful abstraction into which modern times have reduced it—and of which they are, moreover, so proud. For in earlier times, people were still connected to the spiritual world through an ancient hereditary legacy. Even though atavistic clairvoyance has been in sharp decline for many centuries now, this hereditary legacy still lived on in their feelings and will. But now is the time when the conscious must increasingly assert itself as a real power; hence the spirits of resistance, the spirits of darkness, are storming forth in our days to oppose real thought with abstract thought in the form of all manner of world programs. One must see through this connection. Thought must become ever more and more real. This must be understood by people.

[ 21 ] How many people are there today who say: “Well, we’ll see what comes after death; we’ll become aware of that in due time. For now, let’s set that aside and devote ourselves to life. When we enter that world over there, we’ll see for ourselves what it’s like.” — Yes, if it is true that over there one is what one has imagined oneself to be here, then something else is also true. Consider this idea, which is by no means rare today. Someone dies, leaving behind relatives. If these relatives are not thoughtless but are nevertheless materialistic in their outlook, they must have the thought: This loved one who has died is decaying in the grave, or all that remains of him is what has been preserved in the urn and the like. — Only as long as people are thoughtless can they be materialists and not hold this belief. If materialism were to prevail, people would increasingly come to believe: All that remains of the dead person is decaying in the urn or in the grave. — But this thought is a real power. It is a falsehood. When the one left behind here thinks: “The dead person is no longer alive, the dead person is no longer here”—this is a false thought, yet this false thought is nonetheless real in the souls that think it; it is, after all, real. The deceased perceives this real thought; he perceives it as very significant for himself. And it is not a matter of indifference, but on the contrary of fundamental importance, whether the one left behind, in a living inner soul life, nurtures the thought of the deceased who lives on, of the deceased who is in the spiritual world, or whether he more or less surrenders to the thought of grief: The dead person is simply dead, decayed. — Not only is this not a matter of indifference, but it is a very significant difference.

[ 22 ] It’s hard to come to Zurich these days without being intellectually influenced everywhere by what is called here—and elsewhere, too, though it’s particularly prevalent here—analytical psychology or psychoanalysis. These psychoanalysts—it must be said of them—are attuned to all manner of spiritual and psychological phenomena; they begin to reflect on these matters because they confront them so intensely. I would like to briefly touch upon one aspect of this psychoanalysis here.

[ 23 ] A person suffers from certain hysterical symptoms. Given the way these hysterical symptoms manifest, they occur particularly frequently in the present, which is why people take notice of them. In any given era, people tend to focus especially on the illnesses that are particularly prevalent in that era; they then seek to identify where the causes might lie. And psychoanalysis has now reached the point where it states: The causes of these hysterical symptoms, which occur frequently, lie in the psyche. It can no longer seek the cause in the material realm, in the merely physiological or biological. Well, they are in the psyche. In keeping with the prevailing trend of the times, people search the subconscious psyche for all manner of causes for the occurrence of these or those hysterical symptoms. It is said: Here is a person experiencing hysterical symptoms; this is because what is at work within them is not in their consciousness but lies beneath the threshold of their consciousness, constantly surging upward like an underground wave, a wave from the depths of the psyche, and one must search for it.

[ 24 ] And now the dangerous game begins. Psychoanalysts now search for all sorts of things as isolated, subterranean, hidden provinces of the soul, as they put it; searching, for example, in someone who is hysterical at the age of thirty, for aberrations from his seventh year that were not fully worked through at the time—aberrations that must be brought back into his consciousness, because this act of bringing them into consciousness is supposed to heal him, and so on. It is a game played with extraordinarily dangerous weapons! One might well say: Out there on the physical battlefield, battles are being fought today with very dangerous weapons—here, in many fields, a game is being played with no less dangerous weapons of knowledge, because people lack the will to delve deeply into spiritual science in order to arrive at a true understanding of such phenomena as those that present themselves to the soul. They approach the matter with inadequate means of understanding. This is a dangerous game. It is true that in many people today, the subconscious is at work without rising to consciousness. But what psychoanalysts believe they are uncovering is, as a rule, the least significant aspect; that is why the success of their treatments will generally be quite questionable. If one finds, say, a thirty-year-old woman with a sexual aberration from her fourteenth year that was never fully acted out—and which has therefore continued to fester and caused hysteria—that is still the most insignificant of cases. It may even be correct in one case or another; but it will cause all the more deception if one fails to assess its full implications. But above all, one thing is true: countless subconscious forces haunt the people of the present, and they are plagued by them; the cultural ills of our time stem from this. What is this?

[ 25 ] Think about what I have already mentioned. The thought of the deceased, who is no longer present, lives on in the soul; it lives on in some way, without the soul actually giving it much thought—it lives on simply because the soul is still thoughtless today, and this soul is somewhat sensitive to such thoughtless thoughts—then, by the eternal laws of the universe, the deceased is compelled to live with these thoughts; the deceased haunts the soul of the living person left behind. This can only be countered by knowing that the dead person lives on. And more and more, through disbelief in the life of the dead, people on the physical plane will be driven into mental illnesses. As a rule, these are not sexual missteps of youth; it is the thoughts of disbelief that cause these phenomena. For in our time, thoughts have the power to become real forces—not merely real forces that act on their own; they act on their own in that, after death, the soul becomes ever more like what it imagines itself to be in the body; in a higher sense, these thoughts become real forces by connecting beings—in this case, the dead themselves—to the living in an incorrect way. Only by maintaining, as best one can, the mental connection with the deceased as one who lives on can one save oneself from the relationship with the dead becoming disastrous for the living person left behind, and, in a certain sense, also for the deceased themselves, who—by virtue of an eternal, wise law—are constantly compelled to haunt the bereaved in such a way that the bereaved are not even aware of it, but rather experience it through pathological manifestations.

[ 26 ] Now ask yourself: What will be the real remedy for many of the phenomena that psychoanalysts encounter today? — The spread of knowledge about the spiritual world. That is the universal remedy, the universal therapy—not the individual treatment that is provided to a single person.

[ 27 ] You see, life demands that we let go of our thoughts: Here we must devote ourselves solely to physical life; once we have passed through the gate of death, it will become clear into which world we then enter. — For this is also true: just as our life here is significant for the life we enter between death and a new birth, so too is the life of the souls between death and a new birth important for the souls here.

[ 28 ] What I told you is a thought—the thought of disbelief in the existence of the dead. But the dead are bound to the living by many ties—and should be. The one I spoke of is merely an incorrect bond; yet there are correct bonds—many of them—that must exist, bonds that establish the proper connection with the spiritual world. Spiritual science—anthroposophically oriented spiritual science—seeks this proper connection. For human life among one another here on Earth will unfold properly in the future only if these people here on Earth establish the proper relationship with the spiritual world; otherwise, it will become increasingly possible for individuals to take it upon themselves to engage in the kind of machinations I spoke of last Tuesday, in order thereby to gain power over other people.

[ 29 ] We must simply make one thing very clear: When we look toward the East, where events are now unfolding so intensely as signs, we can only gain an understanding of these things if we have a clear inner grasp of the essence of the East. Consider what we have repeatedly said over many years regarding the predisposition of the Eastern peoples toward the sixth post-Atlantean cultural epoch; only then will one gain clarity about all the confusion that must come from the East, because from what is happening there right now, something entirely different must develop—something that does not make life so comfortable for people that they need not be astonished by it from day to day. But what is at stake here is finding one’s way into all these currents—as they appear in the present and as they will increasingly appear in the future—in the right way. And one gradually finds one’s way into them in the right way when, through spiritual science, one correctly advances to the insights that shed light on the spiritual world. Through this, one also attains the right relationship to this spiritual world.

[ 30 ] Last time, however, I drew your attention to an incorrect relationship with the spiritual world that certain parties seek to establish. Through very specific machinations, as I told you, people are transported from life here to the spiritual world; so that they have not fully lived out their lives here and can still make use of certain powers once they have entered the world one passes through between death and a new birth. And then, in turn, certain seemingly dishonest brotherhoods—which seek only to satisfy their own lust for power—can use mediums to obtain what can come this way, through the dead, to whom the opportunity to acquire such knowledge has first been given.

[ 31 ] Such occult brotherhoods are also, as a rule, the ones that mislead people regarding the most important matters in the spiritual world. If I tell you: In November 1879, an important event took place—a battle between the forces of darkness and the forces of light, which ended with an outcome reminiscent of the image of Michael and the dragon—what is significant is not that I am telling you such a thing took place, for the fact that this event must occur, that it is predetermined in the course of world development, is something you can read about in many books; it is by no means an esoteric truth. Rather, what is at stake is that I am striving to make clear to you the true significance of what actually happened and how people should properly relate to this event. That is what this is all about. That such an event would come—Eliphas Levi knew it, Baader knew it, Saint-Martin knew it; they all knew it and spoke of it—it is by no means something esoteric. But in our time, there is a tendency to sow confusion in people’s minds about such events—possibly to such an extent that people come to regard such things as mere superstition rather than reality, even though they have already been disseminated by older sages. That is why it is so important to gain a proper understanding of these matters.

[ 32 ] Today there is a legitimate path to approaching the spiritual truths that have been trickling down into the physical world from the spiritual world since 1879. This legitimate path is precisely the one shown by spiritual science. And if, within the current of this spiritual science, one does not stray from pure, genuine will, then this spiritual science will lead to the establishment of the proper relationship between the physical world and the spiritual world for human beings. But what is gained through this—and what must come among people—entails effort; it requires effort. And various comforts must be set aside—comforts that people today are quite accustomed to. It requires effort. For when people today speak of the impulses that work down from the spiritual world—impulses that also shape the future—well, there are always people who say: “I want to know this or that specific thing.” — For example, what people would most like today is for someone to paint a picture for them—in every detail—of what will have come of the current war by 1920. And people do not understand that knowledge of the future must not be burdened with such detailed descriptions, and that nevertheless this knowledge of the future can be absolutely certain—it can be effective and reliable, and worth heeding. This is so incredibly difficult to understand.

[ 33 ] I’d like to clarify this with an analogy, because you’ll say: “That really doesn’t make sense.” On the one hand, he claims that details actually hinder our knowledge of the future, and on the other hand, he says that we should indeed listen to this knowledge of the future because it tells us the truth about the future. — I’d like to clarify this for you with a very simple, trivial analogy: There are bad chess players and good chess players. If someone sits down at the chessboard and is a bad chess player, they’ll make bad moves; it won’t work out, and they’ll lose the game. If they’re a good chess player, they’ll have a better chance, and they’ll win the game. The bad chess player simply makes the wrong moves; the good chess player makes the right moves right at that moment. But does the good chess player spend his time trying to imagine in detail what moves his opponent will make later on? Does he need to know right now what moves his opponent will make in two hours, if he is a good chess player? No, he doesn’t need to know that! Nevertheless, his skill in playing chess correctly and well is by no means ineffective: he will make the right moves in the future because he understands what the correct moves are, and he will make wrong moves if he lacks that understanding; but he must, of course, leave himself open to his opponent’s free will. That is why you cannot say: “What good does it do to be able to play chess correctly if your opponent is there anyway?” — It helps a great deal to be able to play chess correctly. If you explore this comparison further, you will discover exactly what I mean.

[ 34 ] But this comparison will also show you just how true it is—as anyone well-versed in such occult matters must tell you—that the moment one draws one’s impulses for action here in the physical world from the spiritual world, one must at the same time be prepared for other spiritual forces to oppose one, for having partners one must reckon with, and for the fact that one does not simply have an open field ahead of one and can now carry out anything. But that is the inconvenient part. Just familiarize yourself with occult impulses—impulses drawn from the spiritual world—and try to put them into practice, so to speak, as a politician: if you are truly a person of the present, you would prefer that everything then proceed as if by itself, that these things simply flow in, that you can command everything. But if you have effective spiritual impulses—especially occult spiritual impulses—that you wish to apply in the physical world, you must take into account the free will not only of people here but also of higher beings. So under today’s circumstances, you must not expect to have an open field ahead of you; rather, you must come to terms with the fact that you are working within a field that is already well-occupied.

[ 35 ] The point, then, is to gain the correct understanding—through genuine spiritual science—of, for example, the nature of the sixth post-Atlantean cultural epoch currently taking shape in the East, and to carry out the correct occult impulse in each individual case, just as a chess player makes his move in response to his opponent’s move. So it is truly a matter of the human being immersing themselves in the spiritual world and learning to do the right thing in each individual case. It is not simply a matter of overarching abstract programs, but rather a matter of elevating spiritual vitality—it is a matter of continuous effort. Humanity today wants abstract programs; it would prefer to distill into five sentences what should be done throughout the entire world by appointing representatives from all the nations of the earth, who would then convene as a world court and vote on everything that is to happen on earth according to a standard once adopted. What is required of people is precisely the knowledge of the spiritual world—a continuous connecting with the spiritual powers; that is what it is all about.

[ 36 ] But this is connected to something else: it is connected to the fact that one must take one’s partner powers into account, that one cannot rely on one’s own power alone, but must take one’s partner powers into account. The concept of power as such is excluded from these matters. Therefore, impulses drawn from the occult world will be correct and will bring about what is right, but they will never be able to place themselves in the service of mere factors of power. That is not possible.

[ 37 ] What must one do if one wishes to place oneself in the service of mere factors of power? Then one must do something else; one must try to gain knowledge of the future by improper means, as I described last time—as was done by allowing those whom one has first brought over through death to reveal, through mediumistic channels, what will happen, so that they may still make use of earthly forces. Thus, certain occult brotherhoods have acquired a certain amount of knowledge about the connection between the West and the East, and in many respects, machinations have been set in motion that are now playing out in accordance with such knowledge. For such knowledge, when placed in the service of the lust for power, demands something quite special. The honest, proper appropriation of occult impulses actually accomplishes only what, in relation to living human beings, simultaneously takes into account every single angelic being associated with those individuals. It is known that the people upon whom occult impulses are applied—each and every one of them—stand in relation to the spiritual world as souls; they are regarded as living beings. This is how the West should treat the East: by exposing itself everywhere to the possibility of reckoning with its living partners—the angels who protect individual human beings. That is inconvenient! This influence is to be eliminated by Ahrimanic forces so that only the power on this side can prevail. But this can only be achieved by seizing control of the impulses of the future through unlawful means, as I described last time. That is why our age suffers immensely from the fact that such impulses—acquired in the manner I have described—are at play in the events that are unfolding. The task of every honest seeker of truth today consists, first, in convincing oneself that such impulses exist in a negative sense, and second, in convincing oneself that one can only achieve a proper influence on the future by finding the right impulses—as one can seek them through the honest path of spiritual science.

[ 38 ] You see, my dear friends, spiritual science is not about a one-sided service; it is a service performed by both the living and the dead. It is a serious matter. And I felt the need, especially at this time—since our friends in Zurich have set out to do certain things to introduce our spiritual science into appropriate circles—to speak here within our society about these serious matters of spiritual knowledge in recent times. For, I would say, even within our own society it is already evident how various opposing forces are at work. Just consider what has been going on—I would say for about as long as this war has lasted—in terms of slander and suspicions regarding the intentions that I and a few others are pursuing. Opposing forces are, of course, also at play here.

[ 39 ] It will also be clear to you from the way we have spoken in these reflections that our time needs a renewal of its spiritual life, that our time needs people to awaken from certain states of slumber. Time and again, after all, we encounter people who believe: Well, we have war, then peace will come, and that’s the end of it.” — That is not how things are. What is happening today are significant signs. No one can understand these signs unless they are willing to delve deeply into spiritual science. And since these times are so serious, since conditions will become harsher and harsher—even a struggle such as the one our friends must wage to ensure that events like this can take place here—I would like to acknowledge this circumstance in a very special way and, in this instance, express my deep gratitude of my own accord; grateful, on the one hand, out of a spirit of spiritual science; grateful that our friends in Zurich have this time taken up this struggle against the unfavorable circumstances in such a loving and earnest way and have spared no effort to find opportunities for lectures under the most unfavorable conditions. Thus, the noble intention that these friends in Zurich set for themselves was able to be realized even in this time, when it is very difficult to find opportunities for such events amid the ever-increasing obstacles of the times. I would like to mention in particular that these difficulties will indeed continue to mount. And since we must bear in mind for the near future that we need to make the most of the time we can still secure for our events, I do not wish to leave unspoken this gratitude to our dear friends in Zurich, who, with great effort, have made these lecture opportunities possible—both for the public lectures and for these branch lectures. It will certainly seem significant to us later, when we look back on these events, that we were able—precisely at this time, a time marked by such tragic world events—to come together and speak with one another in the way that we did.

[ 40 ] Let us, then, continue our work in the spirit of spiritual science and strive to do whatever can be gained from these difficult times, guided by the conviction—which can arise from a true understanding of spiritual science—that, however insignificant it may seem in the great torrent of today’s tragic and devastating events, are doing something of extraordinary significance and far-reaching impact for this time. The things we can do in this way flow into the stream of events. Even if it is not yet very visible today that they are flowing into it, this still has significance. If we are imbued with this thought, then this thought will give us the strength to continue, and it will itself have the power to radiate its light into the present in the right way. Such thoughts must be embraced by our time. Let us live in this conviction as if in a spiritual atmosphere! It can come to us from spiritual science, if we understand this spiritual science correctly.

[ 41 ] With this in mind, let us remain united, my dear friends.