The Rudolf Steiner Archive

26. Branch Dedication

[ 1 ] The Little Kali Yuga began in the third millennium B.C. (3101); before that, there was the ancient, twilight-like clairvoyance, remnants of which still exist. There were two ways to gain access to the spiritual world: first, by looking through the outer veil of the sensory realm to the spiritual beings behind it; or second, by looking into one’s own soul, where the foundations of existence also lie; feeling, thinking, and willing are expressions of spiritual beings.

[ 2 ] Now we say: “I think, feel, will”—without assuming there are spiritual beings behind these processes. On the other hand, what is given is precisely what is taken away—namely, the possibility of being led back through the sensory world, to which we are bound, into the spiritual world: self-consciousness.

[ 3 ] Druidic initiation took place in northern Europe; further east were the Drotten. There, [people] felt themselves to be part of the cosmos; there, they experienced the great events of the world, such as the movement of the stars. Around Christmas, the sun’s position relative to the stars is quite different from usual. Joy in the sun and the sun’s absence were not merely concepts; they were experienced as a feeling. When the melancholy caused by the sun’s absence reached its peak, the soul received compensation. It opened up, became receptive to the spiritual sun, and gazed with feeling into the hierarchies of existence. People lived in harmony with the sun’s position and experienced its passage. Human beings experienced this with exultant joy, perceiving the sun’s effect in the sensory world as an echo of the sun’s course. They were co-experiencing the entire universe. But these ecstasies were taken from humanity in the Kali Yuga. The substitute for this was the “I,” as preparation for that Being who appeared in Christ. The Christ event was prepared over the course of three millennia.

[ 4 ] Abraham fulfilled a mission for humanity in the third millennium. Abraham, through his “I,” was the first to intuitively unite with the Divinity, which he was able to do through the instrument of intelligence. He was able to synthesize physical events and recognized the “I”-essence. In the past, one could perceive archangels, spirits of personality, and so on, but not the World-Self. As such, Abraham was the first to comprehend it indirectly through the physical brain. He was able to comprehend spiritual knowledge all the way down to the physical brain. Previously, knowledge of God was attained only by leaving the physical brain; through Abraham, it was first attained using the physical brain. Because this ability was bound to the physical body, it could be passed on only physically through heredity. Humanity had to realize that this quality had been bestowed upon it by God.

[ 5 ] The second step took place around 2,000 B.C. Moses had developed Abraham’s abilities to such an extent that he [God] then perceived Him as the “I Am” God amid lightning and thunder. In the first millennium B.C., the groundwork was laid for a proper understanding of the event of Jesus of Nazareth through the teachings that trace their origins back to Solomon. These eras can only be understood through repetition. Solomon is generally placed around the year 1,000 B.C.

[ 6 ] One thousand years after Christ marks a repetition of the age of King Solomon. Calculations based on physical numbers cannot determine this. Two thousand years after Christ: a repetition of the Moses impulse. Conversely, the events of Sinai are repeated. Moses saw through the veil of the elements of nature. The reversed event was the same through the deep insight into the soul, as with the medieval mystics. It was the reversed Moses event. The “I”-divinity reveals itself to Christian mystics in the soul, radiating from the soul. We live in a special age, as we transition into the third millennium. Then comes a repetition of the Age of Abraham. It is gradually announcing itself. Self-awareness is becoming an experience. Humanity will break through the shell of its “I,” pushing out beyond the narrow circle of self-awareness. It will now radiate from the human brain what was previously radiated into it. The Little Kali Yuga ended around 1899.

[ 7 ] Human evolution proceeds in two directions. There are two currents! First, through the mystery initiations, and second, through natural means. In the past, before the Kali Yuga, people were not capable of consciously neglecting anything. Now, human beings must take their own development into their own hands. The Theosophical Proclamation also ensures this. Human beings are becoming increasingly free. They experience three incarnations to make up for what they have missed; only in the fourth or fifth will this no longer be possible. Now new abilities are developing; for example, etheric clairvoyance is beginning again in our time. We should be able to help people understand what is to come. A materialistic worldview can stifle this. Now is the time to gain an understanding of what is to come. In the first elements, perception will occur through natural qualities. Between 1930 and 1940, there will be a recognition of the spiritual world without the brain as an instrument. Thus in the twentieth century.

[ 8 ] Over the next 2,500 years, there will still be an opportunity for those who are not experiencing it now. By then, there will be a sufficient number of such people. This is of unspeakable importance for the evolution of Earth.

[ 9 ] What will people experience? A renewal of the Damascus event—Christ. Gaining an understanding of these things between birth and death is the final stage of the Kali Yuga era. Mere knowledge derived from the writings of Christ is not enough. Unbelief in Christ Jesus based on external records will undermine those records. Then they will see Christ Jesus in His immediate presence. Then theosophists will be tested. This is the great test: whether theosophists believe in the Spirit or only when the Spirit appears to them in material form.

[ 10 ] False messiahs, such as the Christ in the flesh, will be actively sought after by the materialistic worldview. In 1137, there was a false messiah in France; sixty years earlier, there were false messiahs in Spain and North Africa. As late as the seventeenth century, there was Sabbatai Zevi in Smyrna. People from half of Europe flocked there to see him, the reincarnated Messiah. At that time, it did no harm, because people had not yet taken their own development into their own hands. Now, human beings must distinguish maya from reality through a genuine penetration into the spiritual world. Then the Christ will become the guiding spirit of humanity.