The Rudolf Steiner Archive

67. First Aid Course: Lecture Three

[ 1 ] As a sort of preparation for the reflection we will undertake tomorrow, I would like to remind you of what happened four years ago: Around the time we were getting ready to come here—on the Feast of the Assumption—we had just concluded a performance of the Mystery Play The Gate of Initiation in Munich. That was four years ago today, on the Feast of the Assumption. Perhaps some of you remember it. I would like to draw your attention to a few passages, as they can serve as a preparation for what we will bring before our souls tomorrow in relation to the present time. What we also wish to present to the soul in this form has truly profound connections to our time, and perhaps one will better understand some of what was contained in this Rosicrucian Mystery play when one grasps the connections between human thoughts, human aspirations, and what has so abruptly come upon us. There is a connection, my dear friends, between human thoughts and what has now come upon us. If one tries to capture these human thoughts, for example, with the words of Sophia in the Mystery:

.... you simply refuse to understand that the richest life can only exist where you see nothing but elaborate thoughts. And that there may be people who are compelled to call your vibrant reality “poor” when it is not measured against that from which it actually springs. Some of my words may sound harsh to you. But our friendship demands unvarnished honesty. Like so many others, you know of what is called the spirit only as the bearer of knowledge; you are aware only of the intellectual aspect of the spirit.

[ 2 ] Yes, my dear friends, as long as one has only a vague notion of the mental aspect of the spiritual realm, as long as there exists only what appears to be an external imitation of reality, we have what is depicted in the natural phenomena in the scene between Capesius, Strader, and the Spirit of the Elements. Sophia:

You refuse to engage with the living, creative spirit that shapes human beings with elemental power, just as the forces of germination in nature shape living beings. Like so many others—in art, for example—you label as “naive” and “primitive” that which, in my view, denies the spirit. Our way of viewing the world, however, unites full, conscious freedom with the power of naive becoming. We consciously take in what is naive, and in doing so do not rob it of its freshness, fullness, and originality. You believe that one can only reflect on human character—but that this character must, as it were, form itself. You refuse to recognize how thought plunges into the creative spirit, touches the primal source of existence, and reveals itself as the creative spirit itself. - Just as the seeds do not first teach the plant how it should grow, but rather reveal themselves as living beings within it, so too do our ideas not teach: they pour forth, kindling life and bestowing life upon our being. I owe everything that makes life seem meaningful to me to the ideas that have become accessible to me.

[ 3 ] We want many people to learn to say this so that better times will come again.

I owe them not only courage, but also the insight and strength that give me hope that I can raise my children to be people who are not only hardworking in the traditional sense and capable of functioning in the outside world, but who will also carry inner peace and satisfaction in their souls. And, so as not to get carried away with all sorts of possibilities, I’ll just say this: I believe I know that the dreams you share with so many others can only come true if people succeed in connecting what they call reality and life to the deeper experiences that you have so often called fantasies and flights of fancy.

[ 4 ] That, my dear friends, is what we wanted to build on this hill—in forms and in other ways that so many people call mere fantasies and flights of fancy.

It may seem strange to you when I confess that I perceive much of what you consider true art as nothing more than a fruitless critique of life. For no hunger is satisfied, no tear is dried, no source of depravity is revealed when one merely shows the outward appearance of hunger, of tear-stained faces, and of depraved people on stage. The way this is usually portrayed is unspeakably far removed from the true depths of life and the interconnections of human nature.

[ 5 ] On this hill, my dear friends, let us build something that is unspeakably close to the interconnections of the beings. If you recall the words spoken here in our reflections at this place—that through our forms something should be created from which the unified language of the gods, which seeks to reach us, might reach us...— then you will surely perceive in this structure something that, in a certain sense, perhaps amid the exhilarating whirl of phenomena in the present age—whatever form it may take—can serve as a calming center through the very thoughts from which it arose. How little are people inclined today to believe that what Strader experiences to his amazement before the Spirit of the Earth is true. But let us reflect once more today, four years later, on Strader’s words, as lightning and thunder come from the depths and the heights:

Why do the depths tremble
Why do the heights resound,
When the most beautiful dreams of hope
Break free from the youthful soul?

[ 6 ] No matter how beautiful the dreams may be—if they are not connected to the spirit of humanity, the spirit of the elements responds:

To you, human dreamers
Such words of hope resound with pride;
Yet from the depths of the world
The delusion of errant thought
Echoes on forever.
You hear it only at times
That bring you close to me.
You believe you are building
Sublime temples to the truth,
But the consequence of your work
Unleashes stormy forces
In the depths of the primordial world.
Spirits must shatter worlds,
Lest your creation of time
Bring not only desolation and death
To the eternities.

Strader:

Thus, before the eternities,
A mad delusion,
What seems to be truth
To the finest human inquiry!

Spirit of the Elements:
A mad delusion,
As long as the mind only searches
In the realm alien to the spirit.

[ 7 ] We first heard it four years ago, and perhaps we may recall it today—recall it in such a way that we also understand the tragic figure of Capesius, who stands there at the end with all his profound tragedy, because at this stage of his development, at which he must stand here, he must see—since the past within him has not explored the living spirit, but only that which is modeled after what we call the spirit of our times, from epoch to epoch among people who, even when they wish to penetrate to the depths, cling only to outward appearances—which is all these people can grasp. Capesius goes beyond this in later times. (But at the end of the first Mystery, he speaks these words:)

I could never be a good messenger to you.
You gave me the strength to portray human life.
I was able to describe what inspires people
at one time or another;
But I was unable
to give the words that painted the past
the power to completely fill souls.

[ 8 ] When souls are fully filled, they also find what can truly be put to good use as meditation in our times—in our times, when such diverse languages are spoken from so many sides. Today I would like to remind you of what came from the lips of Benedict at the end of the seventh image, which truly depicts a kind of Assumption of Mary:

The weaving essence of light, it shines
From person to person,
To fill the whole world with truth.
The blessing of love, it warms
Soul to soul,
To bring about the bliss of all worlds.
And messengers of the Spirit, they unite
The blessed works of humanity
With the goals of the worlds;
And when the one who finds himself in others
Can unite the two,
The light of the Spirit shines through the warmth of the soul.

[ 9 ] These are the words that should flow deeply, deeply into our souls, especially in our time. Then we—we will return to this tomorrow—will understand that what was meant to be pointed out back then is true, no matter how many storms may still rage before it is realized. No matter how many disharmonies may still arise, it is precisely these disharmonies that will speak a clear language, so that people will come to understand, at the right time, what Theodora points out:

I feel compelled to speak:
Before my spirit stands an image bathed in light,
And words resound to me from it;
I feel as though I am in times to come,
And I can see people
Who are not yet alive.
You, too, see the image,
You, too, hear the words,
They sound like this:
You have lived in faith,
You were comforted in hope,
Now be comforted in this vision,
Now be refreshed through me.
I lived within the souls,
Who sought me within themselves,
Through the words of my messengers,
Through the power of their devotion.
You beheld the light of the senses
And had to believe in the Creator’s realm of the Spirit.
But now you have attained
A drop of the noble gift of vision,
O feel it in your soul.

A human being
Escapes from that radiance of light.
It speaks to me:
You shall proclaim to all
Who are willing to listen to you,
That you have beheld
What people are yet to experience.
Christ once lived on Earth,
And the consequence of this life was,
That he hovers in spiritual form around
Human development.
He has united himself with the Earth’s spiritual essence.
People could not yet see him,
As he reveals himself in such a form of existence,
Because their nature lacked spiritual eyes,
Which are only to be revealed in the future.
But the future is near,
For then the earthly human
Will be endowed with the new sight.
What the senses once beheld
During Christ’s time on Earth,
Will be beheld by souls to come,
When the time is soon fulfilled.

[ 10 ] Yes, my dear friends, let us reflect tomorrow on something that can give us the courage to believe what these words can instill in our souls:

What the senses once beheld
During Christ’s time on earth,
Will be beheld by souls

[ 11 ] no matter how much the times and people's hearts may still tremble as they approach that goal.