Course for Priests of the Christian Community
GA 345
11 July 1923, Stuttgart
Lecture I
The hearty words just spoken (by Dr Rittelmeyer) are an introduction of the strong impetus towards the founding of this religious community-building and the essentials which will flow through this religious working community depend upon the earnestness, I could say a deepening earnestness, which lay originally in the intention and gave the impetus towards the founding of this religious community movement. It has to be said that during the course of these years there has been within the religious community a continuation of this earnestness and that one can already say, in a certain sense, that the original intention has been proven time and again.
In this movement it also appears clearly that the outer impressions of the rituals—I mean this in the noblest sense of the word—work right into our combined spiritual movement. A strong current working from within, truly intended and also truly coming out in a devotional attitude as we recently had in one of our oldest members of our anthroposophical movement, Herman Linde, being lead to his cremation. The impressions which came out, just on this occasion, of the ritual act completely shows that the real intention is well on its way to becoming a reality, and can be spoken about in the most varied areas not mentioned until now.
I even have the feeling that the objective and progressing striving of this religious community has gone faster than the inner satisfaction and internal harmonizing in the souls of the individual carriers of these religious thoughts. Things are going well. You can feel yourself drawn out by the way these good things are developing, on the one side, and on the other side you battle with inner soul difficulties with particular meaning, because just at this gathering such inner soul difficulties can be talked about because this particular initial gathering can serve to make the difficulties you have, valid, so we can try during the next days to bring about some harmonizing of these inner difficulties.
It is completely understandable that these inner difficulties are there, because you must, while you are the representatives of the most important spiritual initiative, forever remind yourself that realities in the spiritual world work in a powerful way. Even when you are not aware of them, these realities are there. Events taking place on the surface develop roots especially when it happens in the spiritual sphere when related to good or evil. You must always be aware that if you want to work in the present in a religious area that religious orientated spiritual or non-spiritual streams develop an exceptional activity just at that moment.
Just as we are speaking about this at the moment, there is for example a gathering happening of representatives of the Roman Catholic church in a specific place in Europe, which will probably have a particularly important outcome; at least a remarkable result is being envisaged. Today in fact there are more people than one suspects whose hearts feel deserted by religion. Hearts feel deserted by religion while all too seldom words spoken to them come directly out of the spiritual realm. For quite large layers of humanity, it is simply impossible to address these deserted feelings in their hearts, when it is not addressed in words which are not merely of earthly origin, which implies words presented in a supersensible language in the rituals. You must never forget how powerfully effective the Roman Catholic Church in its mass is just at present, still in its old form yet working strongly on the soul and even more effectively in the way it can be spoken.
One must always be clear about how many powers inherent in humanity are such that errors are able to enter on this side. Consider, when you ask about circulated poetry of Central Europe today, in circles which usually discuss historical progress, and you will not once have a name mentioned such as “Thirteen Linden” von Weber, who has experienced surprisingly many conditions. Why is this so? Out of what basis, when the work of the Roman Catholic spirit is permeated ... (gap in stenographer notes).
These facts are the outer symptoms for a strong spiritual steam, particularly the Roman Catholic one, which works outwardly. This is quite clear to see. Don't forget these forces stream right through the human soul and also go through your souls and some of you probably ascribe it to a subjective experience, stirring in the objective spiritual streams at the present moment. It is of greater meaning that today some of you have formulated these subjective experiences in order for us to allow these to flow into our discussions during the next few days. You must not forget that in such a Movement, such as yours, it must be a question of working with real concrete spirits of the present time. What do people know about real spirit today? One of the most important facts for the support of inner spiritual activity in the present time will be the effect of people starting to see the indications given by Anthroposophy in America, which of course is unheard of. Now outer objects are being used to achieve insights.
Compare the world today with one of a hundred years ago. There are a multitude of differences but one could say that one of the greatest differences is that today our atmosphere is crisscrossed either with telegraph or telephone wires. In Europe this entanglement of wires looks like a child's game compared to America. Here is a trace of possible insight regarding how that might affect people. Eventually one will sense that people are not immune to the activity buzzing through telephone wires in the air, making people into actual induction apparatuses. Consider an opposing stream in their nerves and then again one in the counter direction working in the bloodstream. All of this is what humanity carries in itself today, but it is hardly even noticed. These are pre-eminently Ahrimanic forces being absorbed by people from outer culture which they can't evade. One can think about things that are possible and impossible, and yet to the most powerful realities no thought is given. At some point the difference between Goethe and present day should be spoken about, regarding the fact that Goethe wasn't surrounded by telegraph wires. You see, the desolation of the human soul is in reality connected to all of this.
When you now look around at how the highest spiritual religious needs are satisfied, you must pose the question: Are there in these gratifications already some impulses inherent which take into account an element which renders these things harmless as part of the soul-spiritual experience?—That is not so! The satisfaction of religious needs go back to a time when all of this was not present, which I have illustrated for you. Today there is a gratification of religious needs which is only valid for a few people, which is not alive in the culture we have today. Anthroposophy wants to enter here to introduce newer impulses, impulses capable of making people independent from what they can't be independent of outwardly. What is external must be absorbed inwardly. Yet the polar opposite must be created—that means a strong awareness needs to be created for the importance of your Movement in order to create more and more impulses to come out of your Movement. The most important things must be thought through when you are to answer the question: What shall we do?—The correct application of the ritual and sermon already offers the necessary strong impulse because this religious Movement is built on the basis of Anthroposophy. Yet the awareness that humanity stands in the midst of these influences in the world must be present in every single one of us. Each one of you can contribute much towards fortifying awareness in this direction by raising it up and strengthen it.
We may not forget that gradually everything in humanity has become abstract and intellectual, and that intellectualism today stands completely in the afterglow. Today we may want to just understand things but we must open our hearts for the realities of the spiritual world. Mere understanding, how this or that can be grasped, is all very good but it is not the reason for a movement to be supported. You see, some things need to be particularly perceived: those movements which are alert and equipped with strong will, sprouted from ancient humanity, have unbelievably deep roots in Central Europe and western folklore; the Roman Catholic Church is but one phase of this. Intellectualism having caused the desolation of the heart now results in crowds running in droves back to the existing church, namely the Catholic Church.
You are now only a small movement and few in numbers, but if you carry the awareness within you that you are working with Truth, then you will simply say to yourself: with spiritual movements it does not depend on how great they are in number but how strong their inner strengths are. This will be active when you have a strong awareness of what it is that is being carried. This is exactly what you must have: a strong consciousness for Truth and not allowing it to de-motivate you because in fact the truth is most detested. If you wish to spread some secular falsehood, then people will have no fear of it. Precisely when you want to spread the truth people sense your intention and there will be the strongest opposition you can find.
Today our intention is to examine two big oppositions. I don't want to refer to Jesuitism at every opportunity, also not in the usual sense; I mention it only as representative of the old spirituality penetrating present time in contrast to what modern culture has brought into the present. This stream promises the eradication of modern culture. You must not believe that the will forces in this Movement are insignificant. No doubt there is a striving to have humanity deprived of modern cultural elements, which is what this Movement carries. Modern cultural elements are considered as the devil which needs to be conquered by the old culture. Ahriman can't be eradicated but he can be refined, cleansed and made noble; he must be reckoned with alongside modern culture. Opponents know this as well and for this reason they clearly express their fear regarding your Movement because it contains truth. Errors soon come to nothing but by encountering the truth, the opposition grasp at anything in defence, big or small.
You can say that something has come out of Dornach which is connected to your Movement. However, I want to say without any ill meaning, that the destiny of the Goetheanum is also not without the link to your Movement originating from it. In the place where your actions come alive is where the burning spark is laid. Don't believe that your opposition works with limited resources. Above all we must be clear that our advancing impulse can't be located outwardly, nor can a deadening element be located externally. The one and only aspect of this Movement is its impulse of being in the inmost soul. Outer things can perhaps then take place tragically but there will be no obstacles for the impulse once it has been grasped and deepened and really expresses itself as it needs to do. It was a good impulse which has given an impetus to this religious Movement; it will express itself and bear fruit if it is continued forward with the same good sense. Now I will enter into some impulses coming from your midst, what you would like to discuss.
From the participants the following questions were brought:
How does our ritual relate to the cultic worship which will develop in the future? How should we work together in the right way with the Anthroposophic Movement? How can we do the right thing towards moral supportiveness of the overall Movement?
I ask for clarity regarding preceding historical events with particular reference to the Rhur district. (Rhurgebiet)
It doesn't help me to bring an objective balance to the ritual steps. They change as I practice it. The Act of Consecration of Man can be read in such a way as to physically link it to the nervous system but then it is not beneficial.
Rudolf Steiner: It is necessary to consider this last question or let someone else express it more precisely. For example, you speak a sentence and it is not always clear if it has fulfilled the ritual of worship. That is a valid question. It needs to be looked at even closer. It would not be good to bring the nervous system into it. Naturally the act of worship must be on such a level that everything coming from it is not just on the level of the nervous system, which is already considered as far too important. ... (Gap in stenographer's notes.) In your subjective experience you must honour the objective experience flowing out of the ritual.
No uncertainty may limit speaking about the relationship of the ritual to anything else. The ritual which comes about, if you ask the spiritual worlds, is the ritual which lives within you. It is not in some or other outer exceptional form but it is the ritual which is already finding its future but through life itself. The real inner involvement with the ritual is closely connected with the consciousness of the priest. The priest's consciousness can only develop when an inner honesty is outwardly present. Therefore, it would be good when the subjective soul aspect, experienced by individual personalities, as they work with the ritual, are openly spoken about on an occasion such as this. Only when you utter your subjective needs can we start talking in a fruitful way. ... (Gap in stenographer's notes.)
It boils down to the speech of the ritual being expressed as the speech of higher worlds. Human speech is from the outset an earthly speech because it finds expression in structured air. Of course it is foolish to assume that departed souls can talk in a human way. Mediums in Germany let the spirits speak German, English in England and French in France as if one can be a German, English or a Frenchman after death. A spirit does no longer speak with a human language and can't pervade the air. What streams through speech as spirit depends on how it is spoken. At the very moment you have the feeling you are speaking with reverence then you can convey something spiritual through the spoken word. What does this mean: reverence? Reverence is something our philosophers have quite unlearned. They argue that the things they are discussing need to be grasped and touched. Whoever wants to speak about spiritual things must be aware that thought is like an etheric touch and that thoughts should be formed with reverence, just as also in the physical world, if it has to be touched with awe then it only is done on the surface. This inner feeling of reverence within speaking is of course the start. As a result, talking is then not only about content but physiognomic, it becomes conscious and one can gradually become filled with the genius of speech. Through this, you start to discover talking itself as a living spiritual experience. This must be present in the ritual to the highest degree. Then you really stand within the process and therefore realize: you are not speaking subjectively but you are a tool for the spiritual world.
On this rests the substantial understanding that it can be met with the ritual. Contributing most significantly to this is the How in the speech. This How however comes through the consciousness of being a tool for the spiritual world. Every small ritual action is a continuation of what flows out of the Word. In the ritual these attribute to the words become gestures. Now the struggle surfaces in your awareness: You may think as you wish about something (this is irrelevant) but it comes down to you saying what the gods want you to say. Through this, one arrives at the point of awareness that the impulse of the Act of Consecration can be allowed to work through every little thing one does throughout the day.
What is this impulse? The impulse which comes out of the Act of Consecration lies essentially in the sacrifice/offering. In the sacrifice the earthly is offered to the spiritual world; we lay it down at the feet at the spiritual world. With communion we receive it again but now it comes out of the spiritual world. We have surrendered it out of the earthly. What happened in between? Transubstantiation; an exchange has happened with the spiritual world. This brings an awareness which allows us to stand within the spiritual world each time we experience the Act of Consecration. It is lifted higher by the Gospel reading preceding it. When the Gospel reading is a corresponding preparation for the interpenetration of the spiritual world between the offering and communion, then the right way to experience the Consecration of Man is found.
Of course an addition is implicit to this: the Act of Consecration needs to be conducted at least every day. It is prescribed for Catholic priests to perform the Mass every day; through this they receive a powerful force. This must not be celebrated absolutely every day, but it is absolutely necessary that the Mass must be celebrated every day. Through this sensing you relate to the spiritual world. This is of the utmost importance.
Something else happens between one day and the next for priests: sleep happens between the two. What does this mean, sleep? Present day science has the peculiarity that the most important things in life make sense externally, but not inwardly. What is said about sleep is that it is an illusion. During sleep the soul-spiritual part of the human being, the ‘I’ and the astral body, are separated from the physical and etheric part. Between falling asleep and waking up the physical and ether bodies work on the level of the plant kingdom. What the human being has as remnant of the plant kingdom is found in his sleep, thus the human being descends as a physical being down to the plant level. This means processes are taking place which are of a lower kind than normal when a person is fully conscious. Something “cooks” up, warmth and cold are active in lower forces of nature which work in the same way where growth takes place. Only then do we have the right feeling when waking up—this must, of course, be perceived spiritually, otherwise it can be dangerous—when we say to ourselves: our I and astral bodies were in the divine world, our bodies we had handed down to the lower worlds; we then take the body back from the lower world which actually lies beneath the actual human world. This we must not forget; from an Ahrimanic level we take our bodies back, it is full of Ahrimanic build-up which we need to destroy during our waking hours. The first hour after waking should pass in such a way that we are capable of eradicating these things deposited overnight especially in for the form of salts in our bodies. When you don't manage this then the body becomes full of rheumatism, gout and so on, and on a soul level, full of lascivious thoughts. These things come from what has been experienced during sleep.
While the human being has sunk down (during sleep) to a level below that of humanity, the priest must now restore up to a higher level. This happens when the priest practices the ritual. One does not need, like in the Catholic church, to practice the Mass every day, but one should live within the Act of Consecration. That works as powerfully as the daily read mass. It then becomes powerful objectively. These are things we must observe in reality. It is essential that the human being sleeps every night. The Act of Consecration of Man is as important as sleep. If you occupy yourself every day with the Act if Consecration, you lift yourself out of the lower level of sleep-life. The evangelical attitude knows nothing about these things; it doesn't want to lift priests out but want them to remain on the level of nightly sleep-life. This lifting out of people from their nightly life of sleep, this conscious opposition to the sinking down of people into their lower human consciousness, this is what actually constitutes the vocation of priests.
What is the level on which human beings exist? The human level lies between the plant and animal regions, also between air and water. The human being is firstly mineral, plant-like, animal-like; not yet actually human. The human being will only be formed in future. When we meditate through the Mass we don't enter the animal-like aspect but enter into the divine which otherwise can only work unconsciously in us. If we carry around with us only what is daily consciousness—yes, you see, we would not look like we look now, we would only have a body developed up to the diaphragm, men would have heads like bulls and women would have heads of lions. What we have in our day consciousness doesn't enable us to have a human physical head—that is given to us by the divine. For this reason, we see the embryo head as developed to a high degree. During normal waking hours we can't entirely embrace our total human form but we learn to take this human form which is godly, to really experience the earth. You only come to have the right to feel yourself positioned in the human physiognomy when you lift yourself out of the animalistic, during the Mass. Then you free yourself from the animal and lion nature and as a result, have a human-godly physiognomy.
This is where the Catholic Church is insistent—for the divine to speak through the human. When you start to become the practical performer of the ritual then you need to grasp these things infinitely more earnestly than in the normal sense; to the extreme it is necessary to look at it, and say to yourselves: we don't carry a human head when we interact with ordinary people, because the divine works in the human head.
For this reason, it is why the “Act of Consecration” is not a poor expression but a good one, a very good one. How your head is positioned in the world is not due to your doing but God created it thus. Ordination means taking what is firm and making it fluid, what the individual has is baptised into the spiritual. As a result, you can say: I earn the right to live in the divine through the Act of Consecration and meditation and thus allow the members of the congregation to only take part in the Act of Consecration and meditation. This doesn't contradict the social and also not the evangelical consciousness but in fact it is the right attitude to reality. Only thereby it is contradicted that you turn yourself away from the things in the ordinary world; yet by consciously juxtaposing yourself to it, you conquer it. There is always more to strive for, more to struggle through and understand because priest consciousness is not a given from one day to the next, you must first allow these things to permeate you.
A speech exercise is asked for.
Rudolf Steiner: The Catholic Church considers language seriously and insists on speech exercises. The Jesuit must recite and learn to scan, he must learn how to shape an opening sentence and a concluding sentence, how to prepare the initial sentence in order to be convincing with the second one and by ending without impoverishing it by lack of eloquence. Speech becomes something objective. Speech for most people is only an expression of a purely physical organ—the larynx and the mucous membranes. The spoken word which is to be practiced in the ritual must make itself free from the individual, it must have its foundation as a power to vibrate the air without allowing the mucus to mix into it. Today this is not something that can be done effortlessly; it needs practice. The Berlin University once had a professor of eloquence, called Curtius, but so little was known in that time that he never fulfilled this lectureship but instead recited Greek art history.
Erster Vortrag
Die herzlichen Worte, die soeben [von Herrn Dr. Rittelmeyer] gesprochen worden sind, gehen hervor aus derjenigen schönen Kraft, die ja zur Begründung dieser religiösen Gemeinschaftsbildung geführt hat, und das Wesentliche, was durch diese religiös wirkende Gemeinschaft fließen soll, hängt ja von dem ganzen Ernste und von der, ich möchte sagen Vertiefung dieses Ernstes ab, wie er ursprünglich in den Absichten derjenigen lag, die den Anstoß gegeben haben zu der Begründung dieser religiösen Gemeinschaftsbewegung. Es muß gesagt werden, daß auch im wesentlichen alles das, was im Verlaufe dieses Jahres innerhalb dieser religiösen Gemeinschaft selber geschehen ist, durchaus im Sinne einer Fortsetzung dieses Ernstes geschehen ist, und daß man wohl jetzt schon, bis zu einem gewissen Grade wenigstens, sagen kann: die ursprünglichen Absichten haben sich bewährt, durchaus bewährt.
Es trat ja zum Beispiel auch dann diese Bewegung stark hervor, wenn der äußere Eindruck des Rituals - ich meine das im edelsten Sinne des Wortes - innerhalb unserer gesamten Geistesbewegung wirkte. Es ging ein starker Strom von innerer, wahrhaftig gemeinter und auch wahrhaftig wirkender Andacht aus von der Art, wie wir vor kurzem eines der ältesten Mitglieder unserer anthroposophischen Bewegung, Hermann Linde, zur Einäscherung führen konnten. Die Eindrücke, welche gerade bei dieser Gelegenheit von der Kultushandlung ausgegangen sind, zeigten durchaus, daß das, was beabsichtigt werden soll, wirklich auch auf einem guten Wege der Verwirklichung ist; und das kann ja auf den verschiedensten Gebieten bis jetzt gesagt werden.
Ich habe sogar die Empfindung, daß es mit dem objektiven Werdegang dieser religiösen Gemeinschaftsbestrebung schneller gegangen ist als mit dem, was die innere Befriedigung, die innere Harmonisierung in den Seelen der einzelnen Träger dieses religiösen Gedankens ist. Die Sache geht nun ihren guten Gang. Sie selbst werden sich auf der einen Seite von diesem guten Gang von der Sache hingerissen fühlen können, auf der anderen Seite werden Sie mit manchen inneren seelischen Schwierigkeiten zu kämpfen haben, und da wäre es von ganz besonderer Bedeutung, wenn gerade bei dieser Zusammenkunft solche seelischen inneren Schwierigkeiten zum Besprechen kommen könnten, wenn also gerade heute diese erste Zusammenkunft dazu benutzt werden könnte, daß Sie die Schwierigkeiten geltend machen, die Sie selbst haben, so daß wir dann in den nächsten Tagen versuchen können, in bezug auf diese inneren Schwierigkeiten eine gewisse Harmonisierung herbeizuführen.
Es ist durchaus begreiflich, daß diese inneren Schwierigkeiten da sind, denn Sie müssen ja, gerade weil Sie Vertreter der wichtigsten spirituellen Bestrebung sind, stets vor Augen haben, daß die Realitäten im geistigen Leben stark wirken. Auch wenn man das nicht gewahr wird, Realitäten sind da. Das, was an der Oberfläche des Geschehens geschieht, wurzelt, gerade wenn es fü das Geistige geschieht, in tiefen Untergründen, die gut oder böse sein können. Es darf nie aus den Augen verloren werden, wenn man in der Gegenwart auf religiösem Gebiete wirken will, daß die religiös orientierten Geistes- oder Ungeistesströmungen gerade in der Gegenwart eine außerordentlich rege Tätigkeit entwickeln.
Gerade während wir uns hier besprechen, ist zum Beispiel eine Versammlung im Gange von Vertretern der römischen Kirche an einem bestimmten Ort in Europa, die wahrscheinlich eine außerordentlich große Wirkung haben wird; wenigstens ist eine außerordentlich große Wirkung von ihr beabsichtigt. Es ist ja heute so, daß, viel mehr als man da oder dort ahnt, die Herzen der Menschen sich religiös verödet fühlen. Die Herzen der Menschen fühlen sich namentlich deshalb religiös verödet, weil allzuwenig zu ihnen in der Sprache gesprochen wird, die unmittelbar wirklich aus dem Geiste heraus kommt. Und für ganz breite Schichten der Menschheit ist es einfach unmöglich, daß man sie über diese Verödung der Herzen hinausbringt, wenn man sie nicht tatsächlich mit einer Sprache erfaßt, die nicht irdisch ist, das heißt mit der Sprache, die in der Kultushandlung gegeben ist, die eine übersinnliche Sprache ist. Sie müssen nicht aus den Augen verlieren, wie ungeheuer wirksam gerade heute das ist, was von der römisch-katholischen Kirche in der Messe gegeben wird, was sie in einem heute ja veralteten, doch gerade auf die Seele stark wirkenden Kultus hat, und noch mehr durch die Art, wie da gesprochen werden kann.
Man muß sich immer klar darüber sein, wieviele Kräfte in der Menschheit so liegen, daß sie gerade nach dieser Seite hin in die Irre geführt werden können. Bedenken Sie, wenn Sie heute fragen, welches das so ziemlich verbreitetste Gedichtwerk in Mitteleuropa ist, so müssen Sie ein Werk nennen, das in den Kreisen, die man heute gewöhnlich meint, wenn man vom Fortgang in der Geschichte spricht, oft gar nicht bekannt ist, nicht einmal dem Namen nach, «Dreizehnlinden» von Weber, das rasch viele Auflagen erlebt hat. Warum ist das so? Aus dem Grunde, weil das Werk von römisch-katholischem Geiste durchweht ist. ... [Lücke im Text des Stenographen.]
Diese Tatsachen sind die äußeren Symptome für eine starke geistige Strömung, die speziell römisch-katholische, die eben nach außen wirkt. Das ist sehr stark im Anzug. Nun vergessen Sie nicht, diese Kräfte gehen durch die menschliche Seele hindurch, gehen auch durch Ihre Seelen hindurch, und manches von dem, was Sie vielleicht nur einem subjektiven Bedürfnisse zuschreiben, rührt objektiv von den Geistesströmungen in der Gegenwart her. Und da wäre es von großer Bedeutung, wenn heute von Ihnen diese subjektiven Bedürfnisse formuliert würden, so daß wir sie in den nächsten Tagen in unsere Besprechung einfließen lassen können. Sie dürfen nicht vergessen, in einer solchen Bewegung, wie es die Ihrige ist, muß es sich darum handeln, daß Sie mit dem real-konkreten Geiste der Gegenwart wirken. Was wissen die Leute heute von dem realen Geiste der Gegenwart? Eine der wichtigsten Tatsachen für das innere Wirken des Geistigen in der Gegenwart kommt dadurch zustande, daß man in Amerika anfängt etwas einzusehen, was in der Anthroposophie schon angedeutet worden ist, was aber natürlich nicht gehört wird. Nun fängt man an, mit äußerlichen Mitteln einige Einsicht zu gewinnen.
Vergleichen Sie die Welt von heute mit der von vor hundert Jahren. Sie werden sagen, wenn man die Welt von heute mit der von vor hundert Jahren vergleicht, so ist im Ganzen ein Unterschied zwischen heute und der Zeit vor hundert Jahren da; aber einer der gewaltigsten Unterschiede, der nicht aufgezählt wird, das ist der, daß wir heute unsere Atmosphäre durchzogen haben von lauter Telegraphendrähten, Telephondrähten und so weiter. Nun, in Europa scheint das Durchwachsensein mit Drähten noch ein Kinderspiel zu sein gegenüber Amerika. Deshalb ist dort eine Spur von Einsicht vorhanden, was das für den Menschen bedeutet. Man ahnt dort endlich, daß der Mensch nicht unbeeinflußt bleibt von dem, was in den Telegraphendrähten lebendig durch die Luft schwirrt, daß der Mensch ein richtiger Induktionsapparat wird. Bedenken Sie, daß ein entgegengesetzter Strom in Ihren Nerven und wiederum ein gleichgerichteter Strom in Ihrem Blutsystem wirkt. Das alles trägt die Menschheit heute in sich, aber davon spricht man kaum. Das sind im eminentesten Sinne ahrimanische Kräfte, die der Mensch heute durch die äußere Kultur aufnimmt, die er auch gar nicht ablehnen kann. Man macht sich ja Gedanken über das Mögliche und Unmöglichste, aber gerade über die stärksten Realitäten macht sich die heutige Menschheit am wenigsten Gedanken. Man sollte zum Beispiel auch einmal darüber sprechen, inwiefern der Unterschied zwischen Goethe und den heutigen Menschen darin besteht, daß Goethe noch nicht von Telegraphendrähten umwickelt war. Sehen Sie, was heute die Verödung der Menschenseele ist, das ist wesentlich mit alldem zusammenhängend.
Wenn Sie sich nun umsehen, wie die höchsten geistigen religiösen Bedürfnisse der Menschen befriedigt werden, so müssen Sie sich die Frage stellen: Sind in diese Befriedigungen schon die Impulse aufgenommen, die damit rechnen, daß der Mensch durch sein Seelisch-Geistiges diese Dinge in sich unschädlich machen kann? — Das sind sie nicht! Die Befriedigungen der religiösen Bedürfnisse gehen in Zeiten zurück, in denen es dies alles noch nicht gab, was ich Ihnen eben geschildert habe. Heute gibt es eine Befriedigung der religiösen Bedürfnisse, die nur für diejenigen Menschen gelten konnte, die nicht in einer solchen Kultur lebten, wie wir sie heute haben. Die Anthroposophie will hier so eingreifen, daß ein neuer Impuls entstehen kann, der in der Lage ist, die Menschen unabhängig zu machen von dem, wovon sie äußerlich nicht unabhängig werden können. Das muß hingenommen werden, was äußerlich da ist. Aber es muß auf der anderen Seite der Gegenpol dazu [geschaffen werden]. Das bedeutet, daß Sie ein starkes Bewußtsein aufnehmen müssen von der Bedeutung Ihrer Bewegung und mehr und mehr von rein geistigen Impulsen aus diese Bewegung machen müssen. An die wichtigsten Dinge muß gerade dabei gedacht werden, wenn es sich darum handelt, die Frage zu beantworten: Was sollen wir tun? - Die richtige Anwendung des Kultus und der Predigt ergeben schon den nötigen starken Impuls, wenn diese religiöse Bewegung auf Anthroposophie aufgebaut ist. Aber ein Bewußtsein davon muß in jedem einzelnen von Ihnen vorhanden sein, daß man heute in der Art in der Welt steht, daß man drinnensteht in diesen Einflüssen. Jeder von Ihnen sollte möglichst viel dazu beitragen, den Starkmut des Bewußtseins nach dieser Richtung hin zu erhöhen, zu kräftigen.
Wir dürfen nicht vergessen, daß nach und nach in der Menschheit alles abstrakt und intellektuell geworden ist, und daß der Intellektualismus heute vollkommen in der Abendröte steht. Wir dürfen heute die Dinge nicht mehr nur verstehen wollen, sondern wir müssen unsere Herzen öffnen für die Realitäten aus der geistigen Welt. Das bloße Verstehen, wie dies oder jenes aufzufassen ist, ist sehr schön, es ist aber nicht dasjenige, was heute eine Bewegung tragen kann. Sehen Sie, eines muß besonders eingesehen werden: daß diejenigen Bewegungen, die heute regsam sind und mit starkem Willen ausgestattet sich dahin rüsten, mit Altem die Menschheit zu übersäen, ungeheuer stark sind und tief wurzeln namentlich im mitteleuropäischen und westlichen Volkstum; die römisch-katholische Kirche ist nur eine Phase davon. Gerade die Intellektuellen, weil sie heute bei der Verödung der Herzen angekommen sind, laufen heute in Scharen wieder zu den bestehenden Kirchen hin, namentlich zur katholischen.
Sie sind nur erst eine kleine Bewegung und gering an der Zahl. Aber wenn Sie das Bewußtsein davon in sich tragen, daß Sie in der Wahrheit wirken, dann werden Sie sich eben sagen: Bei geistigen Bewegungen kommt es nicht auf die äußere Größe noch auf die Zahl an, sondern auf die innere Kraft. Diese wird wirken, wenn sie von starkem Bewußtsein dessen, was sie ist, getragen wird. Das ist es aber, was Sie haben müssen: Starkes Bewußtsein der Wahrheit, sich nicht entmutigen lassen, weil die Wahrheit heute am meisten gehaßt wird. Wenn Sie irgendeinen sektiererischen Irrtum verbreiten wollten, so würden Sie es leicht haben, man würde dann keine Ängstlichkeit Ihnen gegenüber haben. Aber gerade wenn Sie die Wahrheit verbreiten wollen, dann spüren die Menschen das, und da werden Sie die stärksten Widerstände finden.
Es handelt sich darum, daß man heute die zwei großen Gegensätze durchschaut. Ich möchte nicht bei jeder Gelegenheit den Jesuitismus erwähnen, auch nicht in dem gewöhnlichen Sinne, ich erwähne ihn hier nur als Repräsentant dessen, was die alte Geistigkeit über die Gegenwart verbreiten will, gegenüber dem, was moderne Kultur in die Gegenwart hereingebracht hat. Diese Strömung verspricht sich die Ausrottung der modernen Kultur. Sie dürfen nicht glauben, daß der Wille bei dieser Bewegung klein ist. Sie zweifelt nicht, daß es ihr gelingen wird, eine Menschheit ohne die modernen Kulturmittel zu haben, und das trägt diese Bewegung. Sie sieht in den modernen Kulturmitteln den Teufel und will ihn mit den Mitteln der alten Kultur überwinden. Doch Ahriman kann nicht ausgerottet werden, aber er kann geläutert, gereinigt, geedelt werden. Es muß mit der modernen Kultur gerechnet werden. Das wissen auch die Gegner; deshalb haben sie eine ganz ausgesprochene Angst gerade vor Ihrer Bewegung, weil sie die Wahrheit ist. Von dem Irrtum würde man sagen: der wird schon wieder aufhören -, aber gegenüber der Wahrheit greift der Gegner zu großen und kleinen Mitteln.
Nun sagten Sie, von Dornach ist manches ausgegangen, was mit Ihrer Bewegung zusammenhängt. Aber, in durchaus nicht irgendwie auch nur im geringsten schlimm gemeinten Sinne möchte ich es sagen: Auch das Schicksal des Goetheanums ist nicht ohne Zusammenhang damit, daß Ihre Bewegung von ihm ausging. An der Stelle, wo Ihre Handlung angeregt wurde, ist der zündende Funke gelegt worden. Man muß nicht glauben, daß [von den Gegnern] mit geringen Mitteln gearbeitet wird. Trotzdem müssen wir uns klar darüber sein, daß ein [Ihre Bewegung] fördernder Impuls eigentlich nicht im Äußeren liegen kann, und auch ein ihn tötendes Element kann nicht im Äußeren liegen. Einzig und allein darauf muß es ankommen, daß die Bewegung ihre Impulse im Innern der Seelen haben muß. Dann können die äußeren Dinge vielleicht einmal tragisch verlaufen, aber sie werden dann kein Hindernis dafür sein, daß die Impulse, die vertieft erst gefaßt worden sind, sich wirklich ausleben werden, wie sie es tun müssen. Es war ein guter Impuls, der den Anstoß gegeben hat zu dieser religiösen Bewegung; er wird sich ausleben und Frucht tragen, wenn er in dem gleichen guten Sinne weitergetragen wird. Und so werde ich an die einzelnen Impulse anknüpfen, wenn von Ihrer Mitte ausgehend vorgebracht wird, was Sie gern besprochen haben möchten.
Von den Teilnehmern werden folgende Fragen vorgebracht:
1. Wie verhält sich unser Kultus zu dem Kultischen, was in der Zukunft kommen wird? Wie wirken wir in der rechten Weise mit der anthroposophischen Bewegung zusammen? Wie können wir das Rechte tun zur moralischen Unterstützung der Gesamtbewegung?
2. Ich bitte um Aufklärung über die Weltvorgänge, in denen besonders das Ruhrgebiet steht.
3. Es gelingt mir nicht, ein objektives Gleichmaß in die Kulthandlung zu bringen. Es ist verschieden, wie ich sie ausübe. Ich habe manchmal starke Zweifel, ob ich eine Kulthandlung vollzogen habe. Man kann die Menschenweihehandhung lesen so, daß man eigentlich körperlich mit dem Nervensystem beteiligt ist, aber es ist dann nichts Aufbauendes.
Rudolf Steiner: Es wäre schon notwendig, daß gerade zu dieser letzten wichtigen Frage Sie oder jemand anderes sich genauer aussprechen würde. Sie haben zum Beispiel den Satz ausgesprochen, es sei Ihnen nicht immer klar, ob Sie eine Kulthandlung wirklich vollzogen haben. Das ist eine berechtigte Frage. Aber man muß auf diese Dinge schon genauer eingehen. Es wird nicht gut sein, wenn Sie das Nervensystem in diese Sache hineinbringen. Denn natürlich muß die Kulthandlung auf einem solchen Niveau liegen, daß alles, was von ihr ausgeht, nicht auf dem Niveau des Nervensystems ist, von dem sich ja schon viel zu viel geltend macht. Das Nervensystem muß natürlich stärker beeinflußt werden, aber nicht in solcher Weise. ... [Vom Stenographen gekennzeichnete Lücke.] Sie müssen in Ihrem subjektiven Erleben dem objektiven Erleben nachkommen, das durch den Kultus fließt.
Es darf keine Unklarheit darüber herrschen, daß von einem Verhältnis des Kultus zu etwas anderem nicht gesprochen werden sollte. Der Kultus, der sich ergibt, wenn man die geistige Welt fragt, ist der Kultus, der bei Ihnen lebt. Es ist nicht so, daß das irgendeine äußerliche besondere Form ist, sondern es ist der Kultus, der schon seine Zukunft finden wird, aber durch das Leben. Das richtige Darinnenstehen im Kultus hängt innig mit dem Priesterbewußtsein zusammen. Das Priesterbewußtsein kann nur dadurch entstehen, daß innerlich äußerste Ehrlichkeit vorhanden ist. Deshalb wäre es gut, wenn das, was subjektiv in den Seelen lebt, was die einzelnen Persönlichkeiten erleben, indem sie den Kultus ausüben, bei dieser Gelegenheit herauskäme. Dann erst, wenn Sie Ihre subjektiven Bedürfnisse zum Ausdruck bringen, werden wir fruchtreich sprechen können. ... [Vom Stenographen gekennzeichnete Lücke.]
Worauf es ankommt, ist, daß der Kultus die Sprache der übergeordneten Welten sein soll. Die Menschensprache ist von vorneherein eine irdische Sprache, weil sie zu ihrem Ausdrucksmittel die geformte Luft hat. Es ist natürlich töricht, vorauszusetzen, daß abgeschiedene Geister in irgendeiner Menschensprache reden könnten. Die Medien in Deutschland lassen die Geister deutsch reden, in England englisch, in Frankreich französisch, als ob die Menschen nach dem Tode Deutsche, Engländer oder Franzosen wären. Der Geist redet nicht mehr in Menschensprache und kann auch nicht die Luft erfüllen. Was die Sprache durchströmen kann als Geist, liegt ganz in der Art, wie gesprochen wird. In dem Augenblick, wo man das Gefühl hat, man spricht mit Ehrerbietung, kann man durch die Sprache etwas Geistiges mitteilen. Was aber heißt das: Ehrerbietung? Ehrerbietung ist etwas, was unsere Philosophen ganz verlernt haben. Sie reden, als ob sie die Dinge, die sie besprechen, greifen und berühren würden. Wer über geistige Dinge sprechen will, muß sich bewußt sein, daß das Denken wie ein ätherisches Tasten ist und daß man die Gedanken ehrerbietig formen muß, so wie man ja auch in der physischen Welt das, was mit Ehrfurcht berührt werden soll, nur an der Oberfläche berühren würde. Dieses innere Gefühl der Ehrerbietung beim Reden ist natürlich der Anfang. Dadurch bekommt das Reden nicht nur Inhalt, sondern Physiognomie, es wird bewußt; dann erfüllt man sich nach und nach mit dem Sprachgenius. Dadurch fängt man an, das Reden selber als ein lebendiges Geistiges zu haben. Das muß beim Kult im höchsten Maße vorhanden sein. Dann steht man richtig drinnen in der Handlung, so daß man weiß: Du sprichst nicht dein Subjektives aus, sondern du bist ein Werkzeug der geistigen Welt.
Darauf beruht das starke Verständnis, das dem Kultus entgegengebracht werden kann. Dazu trägt das Wie des Sprechens sehr wesentlich bei. Das Wie aber kommt mit dem Bewußtsein, daß man Werkzeug ist für die geistige Welt. Jede einzelne Kulthandlung ist die Fortsetzung desjenigen, was aus dem Worte fließt. In der Kulthandlung setzt sich das fort, indem das Wort Gebärde wird. Dann ringt sich das Bewußtsein durch: Du selbst magst denken wie du willst über die Sache, [darauf kommt es nicht an,] aber es kommt darauf an, daß du sagst, was die Götter wollen. Dann kommt man durch das Bewußtsein dazu, den Impuls der Weihehandlung in alles einzelne hineinwirken zu lassen, was man den ganzen Tag hindurch tut.
Welches ist dieser Impuls? Der Impuls, der von der Menschenweihehandlung ausgeht, liegt im wesentlichen darin, daß auf der einen Seite da ist die Opferung. In der Opferung bringen wir das Irdische dar der geistigen Welt; wir legen es nieder an den Stufen der geistigen Welt. Bei der Kommunion empfangen wir es wieder, aber jetzt aus der geistigen Welt heraus. Aus dem Irdischen haben wir es hingegeben. Was ist dazwischen vorgegangen? Die Transsubstantiation; es ist vorgegangen eine Wechselwirkung mit der geistigen Welt. Das gibt ein Bewußtsein, das eigentlich jedesmal in der Menschenweihehandlung empfinden läßt das Darinnenstehen in der geistigen Welt. Erhöht wird das dadurch, daß das Evangelium vorausgeht. Wenn das Evangeliumlesen die entsprechende Vorbereitung ist, und wenn dann empfunden wird dieses Durchstoßen zur geistigen Welt zwischen Opferung und Kommunion, dann trägt man die richtige Empfindung weg von der Menschenweihehandlung.
Da liegt natürlich der Anlaß dazu, sich wenigstens implicite jeden Tag mit der Weihehandlung zu befassen. Dem katholischen Priester ist vorgeschrieben, jeden Tag die Messe zu lesen; dadurch empfängt er eine starke Kraft. Dies muß nicht unbedingt immer ausgeführt werden, aber sich jeden Tag mit der Messe implicite beschäftigen, das ist notwendig. Durch dieses Gefühl kommt man in Zusammenhang mit der geistigen Welt. Das ist von ungeheurer Wichtigkeit.
Es fällt ja noch etwas anderes jeweils zwischen zwei Tage hinein für den Priester: er schläft zwischen zwei Tagen. Nun, was bedeutet das Schlafen? Die heutige Wissenschaft hat ja die Eigentümlichkeit, die wichtigsten Dinge des Lebens [so zu sehen, daß sie] äußerlich stimmen, aber innerlich nicht. Was sie über den Schlaf sagt, ist Illusion. Im Schlafe ist das Geistig-Seelische des Menschen, sind das Ich und der Astralleib vom physischen und Ätherleib getrennt. Zwischen Einschlafen und Aufwachen arbeiten physischer und Ätherleib auf der Stufe des Pflanzlichen. Was von dem Menschen über dem Pflanzlichen ist, ist im Schlafe ja heraus; also der Mensch sinkt als physische Wesenheit auf die Pflanzenstufe herab. Das bedeutet, daß sich da Prozesse abspielen, die von niedererer Art sind als die normalen Prozesse im vollbewußten menschlichen Leben. Da «kocht» es, da wirken Wärme und Kälte, da wirken untergeordnete Naturkräfte, die beim Wachen nicht in der gleichen Weise wirken. Wir haben nur dann das richtige Gefühl beim Aufwachen - das muß natürlich ins Geistige hinaufgenommen werden, sonst kann es gefährlich werden -, wenn wir uns sagen: Unser Ich und unser Astralleib waren in der göttlichen Welt, unseren Körper haben wir den niederen Welten überlassen gehabt; wir nehmen den Körper von den Welten zurück, die unterhalb der eigentlichen Menschenwelt liegen. Das dürfen wir nie vergessen; von einem ahrimanischen Niveau nehmen wir unseren Körper zurück, er ist voll von ahrimanischen Bildungen, die wir im Wachen wieder ausrotten müssen. Die ersten Stunden des Wachens müssen so verlaufen, daß wir imstande sind, das auszurotten, was sich namentlich an Salzen über Nacht in unserem Körper abgelagert hat. Wenn wir das nicht tun können, so werden wir im Physischen voller Rheumatismus, Gicht und so weiter, auf seelischem Gebiete voller Lüsternheitsgedanken. Das kommt von dem, was der Mensch auf diesem Niveau während des Schlafes durchgemacht hat.
Weil der Mensch jeden Tag [während des Schlafes] herunterrückt unter das menschliche Niveau, muß der Priester über dieses Niveau zu einem höheren Niveau hinaufrücken. Das geschieht, wenn der Priester die Kulthandlung ausübt. Man braucht nicht, wie in der katholischen Kirche, täglich die Messe auszuüben, aber man muß leben in der Menschenweihehandlung. Das wirkt ebenso stark wie die täglich gelesene Messe. Dann wird es objektiv stark. Das sind die Dinge, die wir in der Realität betrachten müssen. Es ist eine wesentliche Sache, daß die Menschen jede Nacht schlafen. Die Menschenweihehandlung ist so wichtig wie das Schlafen. Wenn Sie sich jeden Tag mit der Weihehandlung beschäftigen, so heben Sie sich dadurch heraus aus dem unteren Niveau des Schlaflebens. Der evangelische Sinn weiß von diesen Dingen nichts; er will nicht den Priester herausheben, läßt ihn drinnenstehen im nächtlichen Schlafleben. Aber dieses Heraufheben des Menschen aus dem nächtlichen Schlafleben, dieses bewußte Entgegenarbeiten dem Heruntergehen des Menschen in das untermenschliche Bewußtsein, das macht gerade den Priesterberuf aus.
Wo ist das Niveau, in dem wir sind als Menschen? Das menschliche Niveau liegt zwischen dem Pflanzlichen und Tierischen, wie auch zwischen Luft und Wasser. Im Schlafe sinken wir ins Pflanzliche hinunter, am Tage steigen wir ins Tierische herauf. Der Mensch ist zunächst mineralisch, pflanzlich, tierisch, aber noch nicht eigentlich Mensch. Das Menschliche wird erst in der Zukunft ausgebildet. Wenn wir die Messe durchmeditieren, gehen wir nicht ins Tierische, sondern wir gehen ins Göttliche hinauf, das sonst nur unbewußt in uns wirken kann. Würden wir nur das in uns herumtragen, was heutiges Tagesbewußtsein ist — ja, sehen Sie, dann würden wir nicht so ausschauen, wie wir jetzt ausschauen: wir würden unsere Leiber nur bis zum Diaphragma, bis zum Zwerchfell ausgebildet haben, die Männer würden Stierköpfe haben, und Sie - die Frauen - würden einen Löwenkopf haben. Durch das, was wir in unserem heutigen Tagesbewußtsein haben, sind wir noch nicht imstande, einen physischen Menschenkopf zu haben - den bildet uns die Gottheit. Daher wird ja auch beim Embryo der Kopf in hohem Grade ausgebildet. Während des gewöhnlichen Wachens können wir nicht ganz unsere Menschenform umfassen, aber Sie lernen die Menschenform, wie sie eine göttliche ist, wirklich erfühlen auf der Erde. - Sie bekommen erst das Recht, sich mit menschlicher Physiognomie hineingestellt zu fühlen in die Welten, wenn Sie in der Messe sich herauserheben aus der Tierheit. Dann entstieren, dann entlöwen Sie sich. Das gibt eine menschlich-göttliche Physiognomie.
Das macht die katholische Kirche so stark, daß sie sich an das heranmacht, wo das Göttliche im Menschen spricht. Wenn man anfängt, der praktisch Ausübende des Kultus zu werden, dann muß man die Sache unendlich viel ernster fassen können als im gewöhnlichen Sinne; bis zum äußersten Ernst muß man sie fassen und sich sagen: Wir tragen gar nicht den Menschenkopf, wenn wir als gewöhnliche Menschen herumgehen, denn da [in den Menschenkopf] wirken die Götter hinein.
Daher ist «Menschenweihehandlung» kein schlechter Ausdruck, sondern ein guter, ein sehr guter. So wie Ihr Haupt hineingestellt ist in die Welt, ist es nicht durch Sie geworden, sondern von Gott geschaffen. Weihen heißt, das, was fest ist, flüssig machen, das, was der Mensch hat, eintauchen in das Geistige. So daß wir sagen können: Ich erwerbe mir das Recht, im Göttlichen zu leben, durch die Menschenweihehandlung und die Meditation und lasse die Mitglieder der Gemeinde zunächst nur teilnehmen an Menschenweihehandlung und Meditation. Das widerspricht nicht dem Sozialen und auch nicht dem evangelischen Bewußtsein, sondern es ist erst ein rechtes Hineinstellen in die Wirklichkeit. Erst dadurch widerspricht man diesen, daß man sich abwendet von den Dingen der gewöhnlichen Welt; aber dadurch, daß man sich ihnen bewußt gegenüberstellt, überwindet man sie. Das ist immer mehr anzustreben, daß man sich hindurchringt, die Dinge zu verstehen, denn der Ansatz zum Priesterbewußtsein kann nicht von heute auf morgen gegeben werden, dazu muß man sich erst durchringen.
Es wird nach einer Sprachübung gefragt.
Rudolf Steiner: Die katholische Kirche sieht auf die Sprache sehr, sie läßt Übungen machen. Der Jesuit muß sogar rezitieren und skandieren lernen, er muß lernen, wie man einen Vordersatz und einen Nachsatz gestalten muß, wie man im ersten Satz vorbereiten muß, wenn man im zweiten überzeugen will, und das endet dabei, daß man das, was man im gewöhnlichen Sinne Eloquenz nennt, nicht vernachlässigen darf. Das geht darauf hinaus, daß die Sprache etwas Objektives wird. Die Sprache bei den meisten Menschen ist nur ein Ausleben der rein physischen Organe, des Kehlkopfes und der Schleimhäute. Die Sprache, die den Kultus ausüben soll, muß frei sein von diesem Individuellen, sie muß hinaufkommen bis zu der Macht, die Luft vibrieren zu lassen, ohne daß der Schleim sich da hineinmischt. Das ist etwas, was man in der heutigen Zeit nicht so ohne weiteres kann, sondern das man üben muß. Die Berliner Universität hatte einmal einen Professor für Eloquenz, Curtius war es; aber so wenig lag das im Zeitbewußtsein, daß er nie diesen Lehrauftrag erfüllte, sondern griechische Kunstgeschichte vorgetragen hat.
First Lecture
The heartfelt words that have just been spoken [by Dr. Rittelmeyer] emerge from the beautiful force that led to the founding of this religious community, and the essence of what is to flow through this religiously active community depends on the whole seriousness and, I would like to say, the deepening of this seriousness, as it originally lay in the intentions of those who gave the impetus for the founding of this religious community movement. It must be said that essentially everything that has happened in the course of this year within this religious community itself has taken place in the sense of a continuation of this seriousness, and that one can already say, at least to a certain extent, that the original intentions have proved themselves, have certainly proved themselves.
For example, this movement also emerged strongly when the external impression of the ritual - I mean this in the noblest sense of the word - had an effect within our entire spiritual movement. A strong current of inner, truly meant and also truly effective devotion emanated from the way in which we were recently able to lead one of the oldest members of our anthroposophical movement, Hermann Linde, to cremation. The impressions that emanated from the act of worship on this particular occasion definitely showed that what is intended is really well on the way to realization; and this can be said in the most diverse areas so far.
I even have the feeling that the objective development of this religious community aspiration has gone faster than the inner satisfaction, the inner harmonization in the souls of the individual bearers of this religious thought. Things are now going well. On the one hand, you yourselves will be able to feel carried away by this good course of the matter, on the other hand, you will have to struggle with some inner spiritual difficulties, and it would be of particular importance if such inner spiritual difficulties could be discussed at this meeting, if this first meeting could be used today to bring out the difficulties that you yourselves have, so that we can then try in the next few days to bring about a certain harmonization with regard to these inner difficulties.
It is quite understandable that these inner difficulties are there, for you must always have in mind, precisely because you are representatives of the most important spiritual endeavor, that the realities in the spiritual life have a strong effect. Even if you do not realize it, realities are there. What happens on the surface of events is rooted in deep undergrounds, which can be good or evil, especially when it comes to the spiritual. It must never be lost sight of, if one wants to work in the religious field in the present, that the religiously oriented spiritual or non-spiritual currents are developing an extraordinarily lively activity precisely in the present.
As we speak, for example, a meeting of representatives of the Roman Church is taking place at a certain place in Europe, which will probably have an extraordinarily great effect; at least it is intended to have an extraordinarily great effect. It is the case today that, much more than one suspects here or there, people's hearts feel religiously desolate. People's hearts feel religiously desolate particularly because all too little is spoken to them in the language that really comes directly from the spirit. And for very broad sections of humanity it is simply impossible to bring them beyond this desolation of the heart if they are not actually grasped with a language that is not earthly, that is, with the language that is given in the cult activity, which is a supersensible language. You must not lose sight of how tremendously effective that which is given by the Roman Catholic Church in the Mass is today, which it has in a cultus that is outdated today, but which has a strong effect on the soul, and even more so through the way in which it can be spoken.
One must always be aware of how many forces in humanity are such that they can be led astray precisely in this direction. Consider, if you ask today which is the most widespread work of poetry in Central Europe, you have to name a work that is often not even known in the circles that are usually meant today when one speaks of progress in history, not even by name, “Dreizehnlinden” by Weber, which has quickly gone through many editions. Why is that? Because the work is imbued with a Roman Catholic spirit. ... [Gap in the stenographer's text.]
These facts are the outward symptoms of a strong spiritual current, the specifically Roman Catholic current, which is having an outward effect. It is very strong. Now do not forget that these forces pass through the human soul, pass through your souls too, and much of what you perhaps only attribute to a subjective need stems objectively from the spiritual currents in the present. And it would be of great importance if you could formulate these subjective needs today so that we can incorporate them into our discussion in the coming days. You must not forget that in a movement such as yours, you must work with the real, concrete spirit of the present. What do people today know about the real spirit of the present? One of the most important facts for the inner working of the spiritual in the present comes about through the fact that people in America are beginning to realize something that has already been hinted at in anthroposophy, but which of course is not heard. Now people are beginning to gain some insight by external means.
Compare the world of today with that of a hundred years ago. You will say that if you compare the world of today with that of a hundred years ago, there is on the whole a difference between today and the time a hundred years ago; but one of the most enormous differences, which is not mentioned, is that today we have our atmosphere permeated by telegraph wires, telephone wires and so on. Well, in Europe it seems to be child's play compared to America. That is why there is a trace of insight there into what this means for people. People there finally realize that man will not remain unaffected by what is buzzing through the air in the telegraph wires, that man will become a real induction apparatus. Consider that an opposing current is at work in your nerves and again a current of the same direction in your blood system. Humanity carries all this within itself today, but it is hardly ever spoken of. These are ahrimanic forces in the most eminent sense, which man today absorbs through external culture and which he cannot reject. We think about the possible and the impossible, but it is precisely about the strongest realities that mankind today thinks the least. For example, we should talk about the difference between Goethe and people today in that Goethe was not yet wrapped in telegraph wires. You see, the desolation of the human soul today is essentially connected with all this.
If you now look around you to see how the highest spiritual religious needs of men are satisfied, you must ask yourself the question: Are the impulses already included in these satisfactions which count on man being able to render these things harmless in himself through his soul-spirit? - They are not! The satisfaction of religious needs goes back to times when none of the things I have just described existed. Today there is a satisfaction of religious needs that could only apply to those people who did not live in the kind of culture we have today. Anthroposophy wants to intervene here in such a way that a new impulse can arise which is capable of making people independent of what they cannot become independent of externally. That which is there externally must be accepted. But on the other hand, the opposite pole must be [created]. This means that you must absorb a strong awareness of the significance of your movement and make this movement more and more from purely spiritual impulses. The most important things must be remembered when it comes to answering the question: What should we do? - The correct application of worship and preaching will provide the necessary strong impulse if this religious movement is based on anthroposophy. But there must be an awareness in each and every one of you that this is the way you stand in the world today, that you are caught up in these influences. Each of you should contribute as much as possible to increasing and strengthening the strength of your consciousness in this direction.
We must not forget that gradually everything in humanity has become abstract and intellectual, and that intellectualism today is completely in the twilight. Today we must no longer merely want to understand things, but we must open our hearts to the realities of the spiritual world. Merely understanding how this or that is to be understood is very nice, but it is not what can carry a movement today. You see, one thing in particular must be recognized: that those movements which are active today and which are equipped with a strong will to sow humanity with the old are tremendously strong and have deep roots, especially in the Central European and Western people; the Roman Catholic Church is only one phase of it. It is precisely the intellectuals, because today they have arrived at the desolation of the heart, who are flocking back to the existing churches, especially the Catholic Church.
They are only a small movement and few in number. But if you have the awareness within you that you are working in truth, then you will say to yourself: With spiritual movements it is not the outer size or the number that matters, but the inner strength. It will work if it is supported by a strong awareness of what it is. But that is what you must have: a strong awareness of the truth, not to be discouraged because the truth is the most hated thing today. If you wanted to spread some sectarian error, you would have it easy, people would not be afraid of you. But it is precisely when you want to spread the truth that people feel it, and that is where you will find the strongest resistance.
The point is to see through the two great opposites today. I don't want to mention Jesuitism at every opportunity, not even in the usual sense, I only mention it here as a representative of what the old spirituality wants to spread about the present, as opposed to what modern culture has brought into the present. This current promises itself the eradication of modern culture. You must not believe that the will of this movement is small. It does not doubt that it will succeed in having a humanity without the modern means of culture, and that is what sustains this movement. It sees the devil in the modern means of culture and wants to overcome him with the means of the old culture. But Ahriman cannot be eradicated, but he can be purified, cleansed, ennobled. Modern culture must be reckoned with. The opponents know this too; that is why they have a very pronounced fear of your movement, because it is the truth. One would say of error: it will stop - but in the face of truth the opponent resorts to means great and small.
Now you said that many things have come out of Dornach that are connected with your movement. But I would like to say, in no way in the slightest bad sense, that the fate of the Goetheanum is also not unconnected with the fact that your movement originated there. It was at the point where your action was inspired that the spark was lit. One need not believe that [the opponents] are working with small means. Nevertheless, we must be clear about the fact that an impulse that promotes [your movement] cannot actually lie in the external, nor can an element that kills it lie in the external. The only thing that matters is that the movement must have its impulses within the souls. Then the outer things may perhaps be tragic, but they will then be no obstacle to the impulses, which have first been grasped in depth, really living themselves out, as they must. It was a good impulse that gave the impetus to this religious movement; it will live out and bear fruit if it is carried on in the same good spirit. And so I will follow up on the individual impulses when, from your midst, what you would like to have discussed is put forward.
The following questions will be put forward by the participants:
1. How does our cult relate to the cultic that will come in the future? How do we work together with the anthroposophical movement in the right way? How can we do the right thing to morally support the movement as a whole?
2 I ask for clarification about the world processes in which the Ruhr area in particular is involved.
3 I am unable to bring an objective balance to the cult action. It is different how I practise it. I sometimes have strong doubts as to whether I have performed a cult act. You can read the consecration of man in such a way that you are actually physically involved with the nervous system, but then it is nothing constructive.
Rudolf Steiner: It would be necessary for you or someone else to be more specific on this last important question. You said, for example, that it is not always clear to you whether you have really performed an act of worship. That is a legitimate question. But you have to be more specific about these things. It will not be good if you bring the nervous system into this matter. Because, of course, the ritual act must be at such a level that everything that emanates from it is not at the level of the nervous system, of which far too much already asserts itself. The nervous system must of course be more strongly influenced, but not in such a way. ... [Gap marked by the stenographer] In your subjective experience you must comply with the objective experience that flows through the cultus.
There must be no ambiguity about the fact that there should be no talk of a relationship between the cultus and something else. The cult that arises when you ask the spiritual world is the cult that lives with you. It is not that it is some special external form, but it is the cult that will find its future, but through life. The correct presence in the cult is intimately connected with the priestly consciousness. Priestly consciousness can only come about through the utmost inner honesty. Therefore, it would be good if what lives subjectively in the souls, what the individual personalities experience by practicing the cult, were to come out on this occasion. Only then, when you express your subjective needs, will we be able to speak fruitfully. ... [Gap marked by stenographer.]
What matters is that the cult should be the language of the superior worlds. Human language is from the outset an earthly language, because it has formed air as its means of expression. It is, of course, foolish to assume that secluded spirits could speak in any human language. The mediums in Germany make the spirits speak German, in England English, in France French, as if the people after death were German, English or French. The spirit no longer speaks in human language, nor can it fill the air. What can flow through language as spirit lies entirely in the way it is spoken. The moment you have the feeling that you are speaking with reverence, you can communicate something spiritual through language. But what does that mean: reverence? Reverence is something that our philosophers have completely forgotten. They speak as if they could reach out and touch the things they are discussing. Whoever wants to speak about spiritual things must be aware that thinking is like an ethereal touch and that one must form thoughts with reverence, just as in the physical world one would only touch the surface of that which is to be touched with reverence. This inner feeling of reverence when speaking is of course the beginning. This gives speech not only content, but physiognomy, it becomes conscious; then one gradually fills oneself with the genius of speech. Thus one begins to have speech itself as a living spirituality. This must be present to the highest degree in the cult. Then one is really inside the action, so that one knows: You are not speaking out your subjective, but you are an instrument of the spiritual world.
This is the basis of the strong understanding that can be brought to the cult. The way you speak makes a very significant contribution to this. The how, however, comes with the awareness that you are a tool for the spiritual world. Each individual act of worship is the continuation of that which flows from the word. In the ritual act this is continued by the word becoming a gesture. Then the consciousness wrestles its way through: You yourself may think as you like about the matter, [that is not what matters,] but what matters is that you say what the gods want. Then, through consciousness, you come to let the impulse of consecration work into everything you do throughout the day.
What is this impulse? The impulse that emanates from the act of consecration of man lies essentially in the fact that on the one hand there is the sacrifice. In the sacrifice we offer the earthly to the spiritual world; we lay it down at the steps of the spiritual world. In communion we receive it again, but now from the spiritual world. We have given it from the earthly world. What happened in between? Transubstantiation; an interaction with the spiritual world has taken place. This gives an awareness that actually allows us to feel that we are in the spiritual world every time we are consecrated. This is heightened by the fact that the Gospel precedes it. If the Gospel reading is the appropriate preparation, and if this piercing through to the spiritual world is then felt between sacrifice and communion, then one carries the right feeling away from the act of consecration of man.
There is, of course, the reason for dealing with the act of consecration at least implicitly every day. The Catholic priest is required to say Mass every day; in this way he receives a strong power. This does not necessarily have to be done all the time, but it is necessary to engage implicitly with the Mass every day. Through this feeling one comes into contact with the spiritual world. This is of immense importance.
There is something else for the priest between two days: he sleeps between two days. Now, what does sleeping mean? Today's science has the peculiarity of seeing the most important things in life [in such a way that they] are true externally, but not internally. What it says about sleep is an illusion. In sleep the spiritual-soul of man, the ego and the astral body are separated from the physical and etheric body. Between falling asleep and waking up, the physical and etheric bodies work at the level of the vegetable. What is of the human being above the plant level is out during sleep; thus the human being descends as a physical entity to the plant level. This means that processes take place there which are of a lower kind than the normal processes in fully conscious human life. There it “boils”, there heat and cold are at work, there subordinate forces of nature are at work which do not work in the same way when we are awake. We only have the right feeling when we wake up - this must of course be taken up into the spiritual, otherwise it can become dangerous - if we say to ourselves: Our ego and our astral body were in the divine world, we have left our body to the lower worlds; we take the body back from the worlds that lie below the actual human world. We must never forget this; we take back our body from an ahrimanic level, it is full of ahrimanic formations which we must eradicate again in waking life. The first hours of waking must be such that we are able to eradicate the salts that have been deposited in our body overnight. If we are unable to do this, we will become physically full of rheumatism, gout and so on, and mentally full of lustful thoughts. This comes from what man has gone through at this level during sleep.
Because every day [during sleep] man descends below the human level, the priest must rise above this level to a higher level. This happens when the priest performs the ritual act. It is not necessary, as in the Catholic Church, to celebrate Mass every day, but one must live in the act of consecration of man. This has just as strong an effect as the daily Mass. Then it becomes objectively strong. These are the things we have to look at in reality. It is an essential thing that people sleep every night. The consecration of man is as important as sleeping. If you occupy yourself with the act of consecration every day, you will lift yourself out of the lower level of the life of sleep. The evangelical mind knows nothing of these things; it does not want to lift the priest out, it leaves him in the nocturnal life of sleep. But this lifting up of man from the nocturnal life of sleep, this conscious working against the descent of man into sub-human consciousness, that is precisely what constitutes the priestly vocation.
Where is the level at which we are as human beings? The human level lies between the vegetable and the animal, as well as between air and water. During sleep we sink down into the vegetable, during the day we rise up into the animal. Man is initially mineral, vegetable, animal, but not yet actually human. The human is only formed in the future. When we meditate through the Mass, we do not go up into the animal, but we go up into the divine, which otherwise can only work in us unconsciously. If we only carried around in us what is today's consciousness - yes, you see, then we would not look as we look now: we would have formed our bodies only up to the diaphragm, up to the diaphragm, the men would have bull heads, and you - the women - would have a lion head. Because of what we have in our present day consciousness, we are not yet able to have a physical human head - the deity forms it for us. That is why the embryo's head is formed to a high degree. During ordinary waking hours we cannot fully embrace our human form, but you learn to really feel the human form as it is a divine form on earth. - You only acquire the right to feel yourself placed in the worlds with a human physiognomy when you rise out of the animal world in the mass. Then you disembody, then you disengage. That gives you a human-divine physiognomy.
This is what makes the Catholic Church so strong, that it approaches where the divine speaks in man. When one begins to become the practical practitioner of the cultus, then one must be able to take the matter infinitely more seriously than in the ordinary sense; one must take it to the utmost seriousness and say to oneself: We do not wear the human head at all when we walk around as ordinary people, because the gods work there [in the human head].
Therefore, “human consecration” is not a bad expression, but a good one, a very good one. Just as your head is placed in the world, it was not created by you, but by God. To consecrate means to make liquid that which is solid, to immerse that which man has in the spiritual. So that we can say: I acquire the right to live in the divine through the Act of Consecration of Man and meditation and initially only allow the members of the congregation to participate in the Act of Consecration of Man and meditation. This does not contradict the social and also not the evangelical consciousness, but it is only a right placement in reality. Only by turning away from the things of the ordinary world does one contradict them; but by consciously confronting them, one overcomes them. This is what we should strive for more and more, that we struggle to understand things, because the approach to priestly consciousness cannot be given overnight, we must first struggle to achieve it.
A speech exercise was asked for.
Rudolf Steiner: The Catholic Church pays a lot of attention to language, it has people do exercises. The Jesuit must even learn to recite and chant, he must learn how to form a prelude and a postlude, how to prepare in the first sentence if he wants to be convincing in the second, and that ends with the fact that one must not neglect what is usually called eloquence. The result is that language becomes something objective. Speech in most people is only an expression of the purely physical organs, the larynx and the mucous membranes. The language that is to exercise the cultus must be free of this individuality, it must rise to the power of making the air vibrate without the mucus interfering with it. This is something that is not so easy to do in this day and age, but something that has to be practiced. The University of Berlin once had a professor of eloquence, Curtius, but he was so out of touch with the times that he never fulfilled this teaching assignment and instead lectured on Greek art history.