The Rudolf Steiner Archive

1. The Origins and Development of the Anthroposophical Movement

Speech by Rudolf Steiner on the eve of the start of the first anthroposophical university course at the Goetheanum

My dear friends!

[ 1 ] Tomorrow, as we begin our university course here, we are undoubtedly facing a very important stage in our movement toward anthroposophically oriented Spiritual Science. And even if only very briefly, I hope you will allow me to say a few words today once again about the development of this Spiritual Science, since this was already done some time ago—a few months ago here—within certain limits, out of necessity due to [opposing] attacks. Nevertheless, I would like to draw your attention once again today to a few points specifically in this direction.

[ 2 ] We will begin this course in Spiritual Science in a building that, while still unfinished, has nevertheless progressed to the point where work can begin inside it in the coming weeks—in the Goetheanum itself, in the Goetheanum building ‘open.’ And when I now consider the name “Goetheanum”—which, as you know, has been given to this building here—I must recall one of the starting points of this movement. Our movement, after all—as I have often hinted at, and also had printed in a few sentences in the introduction to my book *Mysticism at the Dawn of Modern Spiritual Life*—stems from the lectures I gave in Berlin at the beginning of the century to a small circle of people. This small circle in Berlin consisted in part of people who at that time called themselves Theosophists; but the circle also included individuals who were quite distant from what the others called Theosophy. This circle met once a week at Countess Brockdorff’s home in Berlin, and lectures were given there on a wide variety of topics from intellectual life and public life in general; and various artistic pursuits were also cultivated. I was once asked to give a lecture in this circle as well. And I agreed, even though I had never been in this circle before and had absolutely no idea whether I had met any of the members; in any case, I did not know the hostess or the host. Isn’t it true that there are moments in life when one is polite? So after I had agreed, through an intermediary, to give the requested lecture on Nietzsche—it had been quite some time since I’d written my book *Nietzsche, a Fighter Against His Time*—it occurred to me: You must be polite; you’ll now go to see the hostess and the host. So I first wrote a letter to Countess Brockdorff and asked her in that letter, before I was to give the lecture at their home, if I might pay her a courtesy call. Countess Brockdorff wrote back to me: That wasn’t necessary at all; I should just come to the lecture—I don’t even remember which day it was, just the next lecture [evening]—anyway. And so I joined this circle and gave a lecture on Nietzsche. At the end of the lecture, I was invited to give another lecture soon during the winter season. And I replied immediately: “Yes, I would give a lecture on the same topic that I had written about in the *Magazin für Literatur*—which I was editing at the time—on the occasion of Goethe’s 150th birthday.”

[ 3 ] I had, in fact, written “Goethe’s Secret Revelation” for Goethe’s 150th birthday. I said: I wanted to speak on the topic “Goethe’s Secret Revelation” at the lecture evening to which I had been invited. The lecture took place. And I tried to present everything that could be connected to Goethe’s “Fairy Tale of the Green Snake and the Beautiful Lily” in that lecture at the time.

[ 4 ] That was actually, I would say, the founding cell of this movement, my dear friends. That lecture on Goethe’s secret revelation was the seed. I must keep that in mind as we now begin an important stage in our movement here at the Goetheanum tomorrow. It is actually very beautiful that this movement is thereby returning to its beginnings—at least for me and what I have to do within the movement.

[ 5 ] It all began with Goethe, and tomorrow we will begin something extraordinarily important in the building that bears Goethe’s name. So you see, there is already a sense of constancy and continuity in the entire course of our movement.

[ 6 ] The lecture I gave [at that time] on Goethe’s secret revelation led to my presenting, over the course of the following winter within that circle, essentially the content of what is now contained in my work *Mysticism at the Dawn of Modern Spiritual Life* in connection with modern natural science. In other words: Having sprung from Goethe, this then found its way into that treatise. I then presented to a wider circle the content of my book *Christianity as a Mystical Fact*.

[ 7 ] Even what is written in my book *Die Mystik* led to a large portion of this “mysticism” being translated into English. And that, in turn, led to my being invited to give lectures for what was known in its various forms as the “Theosophical Society.”

[ 8 ] Now, I will never allow anyone to take away my right to give lectures, since that is the only way I can present the views I hold, wherever I am asked to do so. That is why, even for those who called themselves Theosophists, I gave lectures—among others—which, as I told everyone from the outset who was supposed to hear them or wanted to hear them, contained nothing that did not stem from my own research.

[ 9 ] I then took part in various Theosophical congresses. In the meantime, this movement, which had thus come into being, had gained members throughout Central Europe—members who were essentially united by the worldview that I had already espoused at that time. When I gave the lecture on Goethe’s secret revelation, it did not mean very much that what was presented there had been done at the invitation of the Theosophical Society.

[ 10 ] At one of the conventions in London, I also saw Olcott, the president of the Theosophical Society. He said to me at the time, more or less: “Yes, this German Section—it’s quite a predicament.” — I asked: “Why?” — “Well, the membership lists—they’re coming in so poorly.” — I said: “I’m not interested in the membership lists; I’m more interested in the members themselves. And as long as the members are there, I’m pretty indifferent as to whether they’re on the list.” — Well, similar remarks came up quite often.

[ 11 ] After we had gone through various stages, a congress was held in Munich—it was 1907—together with the other Theosophists. And at that time, people were very surprised that this movement had, as they put it, sprung up so quickly out of the ground in Central Europe. For there was a maxim that had been passed from one to another among members of the Theosophical Society, especially in the circles of those who were “advanced”—as they called those who held leadership positions here and there; and this maxim, which was constantly repeated among these people here and there, was: “Germany is not ripe for this.” - Germany is not ready for Theosophy.

[ 12 ] Well, that statement was somewhat suppressed in Munich back then. But actually, this statement didn’t seem entirely unjustified to me; for we certainly weren’t ready for what the Theosophical [Society] held in store, nor are we today, and I don’t think we care about it at all.

[ 13 ] What this “immaturity” led to, after all, was that we had not matured enough to recognize this Hindu boy, Alcyone—or whatever his name was—who had been chosen—since others, in whom the soul of Christ Jesus was to be incarnated for a time, had proved to be unsuitable candidates—who had been chosen to carry the soul of Christ Jesus within himself. And we proved to be completely immature. And that is why we were then cast out.

[ 14 ] And so, what is today known as the anthroposophical movement gradually took shape and became increasingly clear to the outside world. Yet what took shape was simply what had been there from the very beginning.

[ 15 ] You see, I was indeed scheduled to give a lecture at the Theosophical Society, and I also founded a German section in Berlin in 1902; but during the founding process—the founding negotiations and the founding meeting—I had to leave, because I had to give a lecture at another venue as part of a series called “Anthroposophical Reflections on World History.” And so you see that while the Theosophical Society was founding its German Section, I was speaking about anthroposophy.

[ 16 ] What exists today is nothing other than what actually emerged from that original seed, “Goethe’s Secret Revelation.” And the Anthroposophical Society is precisely what I have always intended it to be, even in its external name.

[ 17 ] It was 1909, and the Theosophical Congress was being held in Budapest. At that time, all sorts of curious things were already brewing at the Adyar Center of the Theosophical Society. A group of what I believe—though this is a subjective opinion—to have been the more reasonable people at the time had split off from the Theosophical Society, and this group needed a name. They turned to me. I did not yet consider the time ripe at that point to step forward directly under the true banner of the anthroposophical movement. And so I said at the time: I already knew of a name that would have to be given once this movement took on a sensible form; but I’ll need that later—I don’t want it to be misused just yet. —That is what I said in 1909. I was referring to the name “Anthroposophical Society.”

[ 18 ] And then, in 1913, the Anthroposophical Society was founded. The members who were present at that time—insofar as they were still members of the Theosophical Society—were expelled from the latter, all of them, lock, stock, and barrel.

[ 19 ] One really must take these things into account if one wishes to grasp the full continuity of what lies before us today, my dear friends; for the beginning and the end are truly interconnected. And even in the course of development, you will not, in essence, perceive any breaks unless you artificially construct them.

[ 20 ] Then came the time to which attention had so often been drawn in our anthroposophical lectures—the time when the decline of modern civilization became evident in the most profound sense: The terrible years following 1914 began, and the Central European collapse occurred—which, in reality, is a collapse of the entire modern civilization. And it was necessary for our anthroposophical movement to incorporate into its current that which is now, I would say, functioning as a social wing within this movement.

[ 21 ] Anyone who follows the movement from within can see how the Threefold Social Order movement, too, grew quite organically out of this anthroposophical movement.

[ 22 ] Through the Threefold Social Order Movement, all sorts of new elements found their way into the anthroposophical movement. However, the individuals who were the bearers of these elements were already there at the same time; others did join as well, but as I said: the individuals who were the bearers of these elements were already there at the same time. But in the case of a number of individuals, the idea of threefolding had such an effect that a new impetus, a new impulse, arose within them. It is not entirely clear to me how this impetus could have arisen, for example, from the Theosophical Society. For, you see, when I consider these genuine, real moments of becoming—the genesis of the anthroposophical movement—I cannot help but think of such things as I have already mentioned on several occasions.

[ 23 ] I once attended a theosophical event in Paris. For the most part, the people who spoke there were the “advanced” ones. And afterward, people would voice their opinions about what had been—I can’t quite say—discussed there; for they weren’t talking about what had actually been discussed, but rather the “advanced” ones—namely, ladies—who moved about, some nimbly, others somewhat sleepily, and declared everywhere: “There were such wonderful vibrations in this room while so-and-so was speaking!”—And everywhere you heard people praising these utterly brilliant “vibrations.”

[ 24 ] And from everything that had been said behind the scenes after the various lectures, I could only form a mental image of what was happening in the hall, in which one did not actually use one’s ears as a mediator—rather, it seemed to me that one’s nose was being used. For the way people spoke afterward was actually as if they had smelled these “vibrations.” So that, in fact, Theosophy had to be smelled.

[ 25 ] But I have to say: I don’t think much of a social dimension could have been detected in these reports or these speeches! For there was absolutely nothing in all that was familiar there that possessed the driving force needed to directly grasp living existence and full humanity.

[ 26 ] The need to embrace this full humanity, however, emerged with great force in the second decade of the twentieth century. And if the anthroposophical movement had not sensed that it needed to incorporate social elements—or rather, to allow them to emerge from within itself—it would have turned out to be just another sect relegated to a corner, rather than what it was intended to be from the very beginning: the renewal of spiritual life from the spiritual source to meet the developmental needs of modern humanity.

[ 27 ] This should certainly be understood within our movement. And above all, it should be understood that if anthroposophy is to fulfill its mission, it must indeed infuse its currents into all the individual branches of modern knowledge; it must encompass all science.

[ 28 ] In this regard, nothing in all that was pursued on anthroposophical grounds was comparable to what had been pursued, for example, within the Theosophical Society. For, you see, there, too, all sorts of compromises had been made with science, but they were compromises nonetheless. On the other hand, if one could shine in Italy or England—or anywhere else—with a scholarly achievement made under this or that, of course, illustrious name, then—then one was delighted: “Professor So-and-so has become a member of the Theosophical Society”—a brilliant achievement! That is how the connection to the sciences was drawn.

[ 29 ] But this anthroposophical movement should not have drawn its lines in this way. Certainly, one could achieve some degree of success by bowing to conventional science; but we did not do that. And so I made myself unpopular, at least from that perspective. I could cite many examples, but I will mention just one.

[ 30 ] There was a man—who was, in himself, quite charming [...]—within the Theosophical Society. He once came to a place where we had an anthroposophical branch. He was a botanist. My attention was always focused on those things that I thought might happen to interest him. And so I spoke with the professor of botany, and I discussed some details of botanical science. It didn’t interest him at all, not in the least. He was even somewhat dissatisfied, because he loved “theosophy,” and he assumed that it wouldn’t interfere with his botany. He thought to himself: A botanist—that’s what one is in the spirit of modern scientific development. It goes without saying that everything is in order there. And then, if one has other needs on the side, one also takes up theosophy. But there are two neatly separate compartments: botany here, theosophy there. And one doesn’t interfere with the other. That is why it made him extremely uncomfortable to hear about botany from an anthroposophical perspective. One example among many.

[ 31 ] But we simply could not refrain from infusing everything that comes from the sources of anthroposophical research into our specific life activities—into everything that belongs to the world. This made many people uncomfortable—quite uncomfortable. After all, one could be a good botanist in the sense of the demands of the time—one had graduated from high school, pursued specialized studies, written a dissertation, become a private lecturer, written a book, and become a professor—and, of course, one also had one’s botanical collection—everything was in order; that was all behind one. Why interfere with that in any way? But because that was unsatisfying, one needed something to meet the other needs of the human being. So one turned to Theosophy. It was easy to grasp [compared] to the many books one had worked through before finally becoming a university professor. So one simply bought a few more—that is, theosophical—books to add to the collection. Now one had something to satisfy that other need as well. The circles were not to be disturbed.

[ 32 ] But we simply couldn’t do it that way. I, in particular, could not become that well-behaved, my dear friends. And so I was compelled, drawing on anthroposophical foundations, to weigh in on all the sciences, simply to tell people: No, that won’t work; we don’t need to approach these matters with a blindfold on, but rather each of the other disciplines must be thoroughly cleaned up; everything there has become dead and must be brought back to life.

[ 33 ] The whole issue is connected to our social demands. For if we did not have this dreadful tendency to specialize in individual sciences that are detached from life, if we did not have this lack of understanding of life caused by these isolated individual sciences, then we would not have been driven into the misfortune of recent years. And we must find our way out of this by starting at the right end—by properly delving into the various fields of study—so that the spirit, which alone can sustain the development of humanity, is also present in all the individual activities of intellectual life. And everything that is to emerge from this intellectual life was already present within our anthroposophical movement. And when the new elements emerged—inspired by the idea of threefold social order and by many other developments within the anthroposophical movement in recent years—the impetus arose to embark on the path that has now led to what is to begin here tomorrow as our anthroposophical university course.

[ 34 ] Dr. Boos, the founder and leader of the Swiss Threefold Order, was the one who, above all others, possessed the driving force that ultimately led to what we will begin tomorrow.

[ 35 ] In a certain sense, one first had to be fully immersed in the realization of the necessity of enriching all scientific, artistic, and social life through anthroposophy. One had to be equipped with the inner boldness to truly combine absolutely clear, sharply defined thinking with that necessary intuition which recognizes that what flows through the currents of anthroposophy can truly provide the sciences with what must be provided. Then one must possess that sacred fire dedicated precisely to such work. This has been accomplished—in a way for which we cannot thank him enough—by our friend Dr. Roman Boos, and it is actually to him that we owe the fact that we have his work before us: this anthroposophical university course, which is to begin tomorrow.

[ 36 ] Of course, we must not forget all those who contributed and participated extensively; but there must be a driving force behind all of this. And this driving force must, I would say, be a social impetus. That was necessary above all else. We had that in relation to these undertakings, and I can only hope that we will have many more undertakings with Dr. Boos; then we will certainly make progress.

[ 37 ] And so we can trace the development of what I took the liberty of presenting to you today in the Urzelle—how it branched out into life within the individual sciences, how it brought together all those friends whom we cannot welcome warmly enough, who will now devote themselves as lecturers to the integration of anthroposophy into the individual sciences and branches of life. It is precisely when we are able to present this to the world—how anthroposophy influences the individual branches of science—that we will also gain the necessary momentum for the social impact of anthroposophy.

[ 38 ] But that, my dear friends, is what should inspire us as we witness this course of study at the anthroposophical university. One can only hope that many, many new seeds will spring forth from everything that will be done, said, and demonstrated here.

[ 39 ] [The following remarks are not directly related to the history of the company from 1902 to 1913:]

[ 40 ] “So, in accordance with the program, we will begin this anthroposophical university course tomorrow. Our first event tomorrow will be the one that is, so to speak, intended to serve as the starting point. We will begin tomorrow at five o’clock with a musical prelude by our friend Stuten. This will be followed by speeches, one of which will be mine on science, art, and religion; but I hope it will serve as an introduction to a whole series of talks that will briefly touch upon, in a variety of ways, the significance of this moment, which is presenting itself in the present in such a way that from here—from this Goetheanum—a genuine attempt will be made to channel into the world that impulse which is aimed, above all, at a renewal of scientific life.

[ 41 ] This will be followed by a performance of the musical settings by our friend Schuurman, specifically his setting of a short poetic interlude from *The Chemical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz*. Then there will be an intermission. After the intermission, recitations and other musical performances will follow. This morning celebration will then conclude with a eurythmy performance. Thus, we would first like to point out the various areas of activity that are to be cultivated here at this Goetheanum.

[ 42 ] Today, my dear friends, our first task would likely be to consider how to carry out the work that falls to us, since we must ensure that the entire three-week event proceeds in a dignified yet practical manner. To this end, it is necessary that the gentlemen from our Swiss Threefold Society, the gentlemen of the Goetheanum, the Goetheanism Association, and so on—the ladies and gentlemen—be supported by a number of other individuals who—please don’t take this the wrong way, they aren’t always meant as badly as they seem—ensure order, aren’t they? Because if they’ve already been standing outside the entrance beforehand, it really isn’t necessary to spend another hour waiting until everyone is seated; rather, we should ensure that everyone finds their seat as quickly as possible, so that what leads most swiftly to sitting still and listening can be carried out. I must say that I’m actually sorry I have to be the one to speak tomorrow: I’d find it much more appealing to be an usher; for when you’re an usher, you can develop such wonderful talents. First of all, an usher looks so good when he’s really nimble, when he’s not clumsy, when he gets a ticket in his hand—forgive me, I don’t mean any offense—but instead of examining it from all sides, the way a clumsy postal clerk at the counter does with a letter—driving you to despair until you finally get your slip for a registered letter, for example—he knows immediately with a quick movement: “There’s the spot”—so that the person in question can walk over and get to their seat right away. So give directions quickly, but with calm composure, and be charming while doing so—not brusque—so that the person being directed to their seat feels great joy; so that no one can think, “I’m being snapped at.” I find this a good opportunity to bring out one’s finest talents; it’s actually extremely desirable. And so I ask the gentlemen in particular to be charming. I believe it will be particularly lovely in this case if the gentlemen are, so to speak, officially charming; and the ladies, without any official role, are charming in between. I ask the gentlemen to strive toward two goals: to earn the little blue ribbon here—which is meant to distinguish the ushers—and to wear it in their buttonhole. I imagine that this will truly be a worthy goal, especially for those who come from monarchies, where there’s nothing else to put in a buttonhole these days—it will be a contemporary ideal. So we will adorn all those who strive to check tickets quickly, direct people to their seats, and be charming with a blue ribbon—not a red one, for example, so that the Swiss don’t think we’re socialists or something like that; isn’t that right? after all, Pastor Kully might now start spreading all sorts of nasty rumors if we give people red ribbons; so you’ll get blue ribbons and will all be charming and nimble ushers. I ask you to consider this from these two perspectives. One perspective is this: if you know you’re one of those who can be nimble and charming, then surely you won’t fail to help maintain order. And if you happen to know that you might have absorbed too much militarism over the past few years, so that you can’t develop such qualities—but this is just said in parentheses and really isn’t meant in a bad way— —that is, if someone has internalized overly strong military tendencies over the past few years that are not conducive to being charming and the like—for example, if one has become too accustomed to giving orders—then one should practice anthroposophical self-restraint and refrain from participating in organizing. But as I said, I’m only saying this, as they used to say in the old science: “for the sake of clarity.” I’ll propose some alternatives right away. One must be thorough in science. After all, we are now holding a scientific course. Isn’t that right? There’s no need to be quite as radical as that one person from the neighborhood here who, when she first came up here, didn’t fail to reprimand us right away because we—who wanted to be “modern,” after all— now, wherever one looks, have “old chestnuts,” as the Berliners say, like doctorates and so on; if we’re going to start innovating, this person argued, we should at least do away with such titles.

[ 43 ] Well, isn't that so? Opinions may differ on whether one should do this or that, or whether one should put on a new skirt; but let us not see our ideals in outward appearances, and that is why I mentioned the second point for the sake of completeness, and I sincerely hope that it was not necessary for me to mention it.

[ 44 ] Well, that would take care of part of what we have to do today, if the individuals in question—who, based on what has been said, now feel particularly called to serve as ushers—were to let us know that they would like to wear this little blue ribbon in their buttonholes for the next few days, and especially for tomorrow. Perhaps Dr. Boos himself, or someone he designates for this purpose, could take down the names of those who feel called to such a high office at the end of the program. That will be one thing.

[ 45 ] The other thing would be that I would ask those of the distinguished gentlemen who will be speaking and are already here today to perhaps come see me at the end of this evening, because there are still a few matters that need to be discussed.

[ 46 ] That, for now, is what I have to say. And now, since I’ve only been here since today and haven’t been able to participate in the rather extensive preparations necessary to get this course off to a good start—especially in the last few days—I’m going to ask Dr. Boos to take charge of this evening’s session and suggest to us what needs to happen next in this regard.

[ 47 ] However, once we have finished discussing the items on the agenda for tomorrow and the following “days,” we will still have a few other matters to discuss this evening that relate to some other events. But first, let’s go over the course agenda.

Dr. Boos is bringing the necessary measures and equipment to the meeting.

[ 48 ] At the end, Dr. Steiner speaks again:

[ 49 ] “I would just like to note for those friends from out of town who have come as members of the Anthroposophical Society that, as before, when I am in Dornach, anthroposophical lectures will take place on Saturday and Sunday, and I believe there will also be eurythmy performances on Saturday and Sunday. The lectures will take place after the eurythmy at 8:00 p.m., or—if there are no performances on Saturday and Sunday—at 7:30 p.m., here in the carpentry shop if we can accommodate everyone, otherwise over at the construction site. The eurythmy performances will also be held here in the carpentry shop.” Dr. Boos reports on various activities intended to be inflammatory and defamatory, and asks for feedback on a suggestion made to him to send a report to the press about the meeting that is already in session.

Dr. Schmiedel says you should specify the number of guests.

[ 50 ] Dr. Boos says that he, too, had already considered this; he suggests drafting a resolution here at a mass assembly that could also include those not yet present, reflecting the general sentiment—there is no need to cite specific numbers; a resolution in a concise, brief form would be exceptionally effective. A motion to adopt the resolution is proposed. Since no amendments have been proposed, he asks again. — Unanimity is confirmed. This concludes the matter regarding this resolution.

[ 51 ] Rudolf Steiner: “I don’t think it’s necessary to dwell on what has appeared in the press about the meeting that supposedly took place here in Dornach—which was apparently convened through the machinations of Pastor Kully and Pastor Arnet. I don’t think it’s necessary to talk much about this meeting based on the press report.”

[ 52 ] Certain things have been reported that might, admittedly, lead one to notice this or that. For example, it is, after all, a remarkable fact that these gentlemen—who, driven by an utterly false and deceitful motive, are gathering all sorts of things that are not true—are, or at least are supposed to be, in a position to have detailed reports on, say, the celebration of our groundbreaking ceremony and the like. In fact, there is every indication that these two gentlemen—who are, after all, the driving force behind the counter-campaign and the emerging movement—are, in essence, being handed pretty much everything they want by our own people, our members.

[ 53 ] My dear friends, it is, of course, soon going to be nonsense to hold meetings even in closed circles if everything from our own circle is then passed on to Pastor Kully and people like him. Isn’t that right? Such things must be said, because, after all, these matters are coming to light. First of all, the gathering itself is none of our business; for whatever people want to settle among themselves, let them settle it among themselves—let them be as indecent as they please; they were certainly indecent enough, as we already know. What the resolution—which we have just had proposed by Dr. Boos—is directed against is precisely what they have expelled outwardly as filth, and what has even been disseminated by a Swiss newspaper. We must, of course, oppose that. Whatever they decide among themselves, let them decide among themselves. Unless, that is, we hear that it is happening through communications of Spiritual Science from our own members—about matters one would expect to remain within our own circles. For example, it is said that a certain gentleman—about whom it is again reported that he is said to have expressed himself in archaic Swiss German—is said to have spouted such filth that people have now felt compelled to simply let the filth out. But as I said, people may sort out all sorts of things among themselves; that is none of our business for the time being. I note that they really should settle this among themselves. For those who do not belong to the group and are said to have gone to that gathering were, after all, shown in a very rude manner that they had no say in the matter, and they were rudely shown the door. So it seems that, in the end—or at least during part of the gathering—any outsiders were not present at all. Perhaps only a few of them were actually there.

[ 54 ] But on the other hand, I would like to warn against letting ourselves be lulled into complacency once again and succumbing to the slumber that has often been described here. This complacency in the face of the dangers coming from that side is precisely the very worst thing that could actually happen within our ranks. And there is indeed a great deal of such complacency in this regard.

[ 55 ] Even today, shortly after my return, I have already heard once again that people are casually spreading the rumor that the Catholics’ behavior—in such a shameful manner as it occurred—has won us good friends everywhere among the non-Catholics. So for a large number of our members, it is not a matter of facing the facts, but rather of finding yet another excuse for themselves to turn a deaf ear—to turn away—when what is being discussed at the “Ochsen” in Dornach—that gathering about which it is said—I do not know if it is true, I emphasize this explicitly—it is said that: “Such a large ‘Ochsen’ event has never taken place in Dornach before.”—But that was only because the meeting was held at the “Ochsen.”

[ 56 ] But to those who would like to go right back to their comfortable slumber, I would recommend that they take note of a certain passage in the report written about this gathering—a passage that should already be understood and that could show just how significant these attacks actually are. It is stated there—I can’t recall the exact wording at the moment, but it appears in one of the reports—that the manner in which Pastor Kully spoke at that Catholic gathering was quite peculiar. The person reporting this was evidently deeply moved, struck by Pastor Kully’s distinctive style of speech. He says, in fact: There was no unifying thread running through the speech; nor did the speech make much sense; but it consisted entirely of individual images that were, in a certain way, presented to the people—images that were held together solely by everything that could incite hatred, so that these images, these mental pictures, were presented to the people and held together by the element of hatred. Anyone who knows the nature of the methods and polemics employed by certain parties also knows that such a statement carries extraordinary significance, and that these things are effective.

[ 57 ] It is indeed necessary—or at least it should be necessary—that, after decades of practicing anthroposophy, we on our side finally realize that such matters cannot simply be brushed aside, and that we should not lull ourselves into complacency by telling ourselves: ‘Now they’re stirring up trouble on that side, and doing so in a very shameless way’… This is precisely how we’re gaining special friends on the other side again. The point is that we must try to look at things completely impartially; for the people—I have said this many times before—the people who are fighting on that side know very well what they want, know very well how to make an impact, how to escalate matters, and how they will ultimately achieve their goal through this skillful escalation and manipulation of sentiment.

[ 58 ] So it would be better to try to face the situation head-on and recognize that, in fact, this is a very dire situation for us—here, where we have just placed what is supposed to be most sacred to us. And we need to bear in mind that we are supposed to be waking up right now, and that it is, after all, always possible—time and again—that the things that should remain among us will immediately be reported to Pastor Arnet as well. Or isn’t it very strange, for example, when there’s a report here stating: “Pastor Arnet spoke about how many people’s health is severely affected by what emanates from my exercises”; if he wanted to continue talking about everything that is being reported to him, he would have to violate the seal of confession.

[ 59 ] So, it would be somewhat necessary to take a look, even within our own ranks, at what keeps coming to the surface through such things.

[ 60 ] Incidentally, I simply find it undignified for us to concern ourselves with this assembly; because, isn’t it true, there are simply certain things that can no longer be negotiated once they begin to regard a certain level below decency as their own—at that point, negotiation is no longer possible, and one can no longer even discuss the matter seriously. But that should not mean that we should not remain vigilant toward what emanates from there.

[ 61 ] I don't think we have anything else to discuss today. So I would ask those of you who would like to purchase the blue ribbon for your buttonhole to please see Dr. Boos.

[ 62 ] And in a few minutes, I’ll be back here and will ask those friends who are scheduled to speak in the coming days and are already here today to gather for a very brief discussion on a few points we need to agree on. So I’ll be back here in a few minutes.