Lectures to Priests: The Apocalypse
GA 346
Dornach, 22 September 1924
Lecture XVIII
We have looked at the Apocalypse with respect to its inner spirit and we have looked at it in connection with your work as priests. One could of course say a great deal more in connection with the Apocalypse; for instance, one could unroll the whole composition of the Apocalypse, but it seems to me that this conference in Dornach will get its best content if what was said in connection with the Apocalypse will show up in priestly activity in a really practical way.
We'll only have to add one more thing today. We should consider that we're living in the consciousness soul age or at that stage of man's overall evolution where he has to gain control over his intellectuality, as it were, so that it's integrated into his individuality. Of course to begin with this age is still restricted to man's spirit or intellect, as it were, where the things which are connected with the acquisition of intellectuality occur within human thinking and reflection, although a time will come when the deeper forces of the human soul will also be taken hold of by that which now occurs more within thinking, wishing and reflecting.
At present man can only form ideas about how he should use the intellectuality that is breaking into his individuality. However, before this age of consciousness soul development is over souls will be taken hold of by intellectuality right down into their deepest emotions, feelings and passions. And then what was still sought in the stars during the Middle Ages, when one spoke of angelic intelligences in the stars and planets will live even more deeply and pervasively in men.
All of this will be deposited in men, and later on when the Jupiter period comes even man's corporeality will be taken hold of by intellectuality. However, at present, where the soul has still not been taken hold of by intellectuality in its innermost structure and men can grasp the important things in their thoughts and words, it is possible to orient priestly activities in such a way that the world goals can really be attained.
So you see things are like this; when men grab intellectuality from the cosmos—and after all, it is a wise arrangement of the world powers that he is taking possession of it—there are always unguarded moments when it becomes possible for the Ahrimanic power who is called Satan in Christian tradition to take hold of this intellectuality that men have. Satan must not be confused with the ordinary devil, who is a lower power with different characteristics. Satan has the rank of a Principality (Archai), and he took hold of this intellectuality in the course of world evolution long before it approached men in the described manner, and one could say that he possesses more intellectuality than any other being. He is trying to bind human intellectuality to his own to such an extent that men can fall out of their evolution in this way. In other words, this Ahrimanic power is trying to nullify the Mystery of Golgotha and Christ's activity.
Now this Ahrimanic power who is called Satan in Christian tradition lacks the strength to work up further than the human level of cosmic beings. So one shouldn't think that the intelligence of an angel, for instance, could be taken hold of directly by this Satanic power; this can only happen in certain exceptional cases. These exceptional cases that could occur in the future, where it might not only be possible for the Satanic power to chain men to himself through their intellects, but also to bind beings from the spheres of the angels and namely of the archangels to himself—these things still belong to the higher secrets of occultism that cannot be spoken about at present, and that can only be disclosed under certain conditions. So we can only indicate that a temptation and a seduction of beings in the hierarchy of angels and namely of archangels might be possible in the future, but we must reckon with the fact that the power who is called Satan in Christian tradition has the ability to cling to something in man's inner life that is as independent as his intellectuality. And then when the intellectuality which men contain is taken hold of by the Ahrimanic power, a man can be torn out of evolution and can be put on an entirely different course, simply because his being is pulled along with the intelligence with which Satan is able to connect himself.
This is only possible with man's intellectuality, and not with any other psychical, spiritual or bodily force in him. For a man's intelligence sits in him in such a way that it is the most independent thing in him. Everything else is connected with certain divine powers, and so if Satan were to do anything with men's feelings, sensations, desires and wishes he would still have to deal with the superhuman forces that are in these soul-capacities. Intellectuality is the first thing through which each human being can separate himself entirely from the beings who bring about his personal evolution, and it is the first thing in which he must freely connect himself through his own efforts with those powers who have accompanied his evolution right from the beginning. So that he has to identify himself freely with the last goals of the Apocalypse, where the Apocalypticer clearly indicates that the power who is the Alpha and Omega of the creator beings who go through evolution will appear, and each human being has to decide for himself to attach himself to the being who led him during the time when he was becoming cosmically mature.
To be sure, Satan can use this great moment in the evolution of humanity and he can pull men's intelligences and the men with it into his own realm. We can already see how the Satanic power is trying to bring men into its evolution in this way. The way to do this is to bring people together in the kind of associations that we see arising everywhere in a germinal form today, where the old group souls end and a new group-soulness can begin.
That is why what is occurring in eastern Europe today, for instance, is so terribly Satanic because it all tends very forcibly in the direction of putting people together in such a way that group souls become necessary. If the most intelligent people are then taken over into the lower Ahrimanic regions in this way, the groups that are formed here can only be assigned to Ahrimanic powers as groups. That would be a way for the Satanic powers to tear mankind out of earth evolution and to bring it into another planetary evolution. That kind of activity with a group soul character can only succeed if the intellectual element becomes completely emancipated in a certain way.
Very clever beginnings in this direction are being made in the east today, and priests should understand these beginnings for their work, because they are becoming manifest in a very forcible way in the east, but they're also present in central and western Europe.
For example, something that seems to be more or less harmless in exoteric life but which must be discussed very seriously is the way that psychology is being allowed to pass over into an experimental observation of human souls. This is one of the methods that will eventually prevent the soul elements from working from man to man in the way that the old divine powers intended, and psychical things will be determined in a numerical way or some other way instead by the emancipated intellectuality.
These things in central Europe and in the West are still relatively harmless. However just consider, for example, that a statistical, intellectualistic way of looking at things that is emancipated from men's soul life has arisen in the west through William James and others. They apply statistical methods to the inner conversion of human beings or to what one could call a finding of one's inner religious bearings—which occurs in many people just before they're 20 years old. Many people also experience an inner transformation after they're 20, which is like a whirling up of the Godhead out of their own soul.
In the U.S. they determine the percentage of the population that undergoes such inner conversions, and they treat things in a statistical manner. The Satanic thing about this is the statistical treatment, the compilation of data, the emancipated intellect. All these conversions are really the results of karma, but then one has to look at each particular case. You will find that statistical methods are praised to the skies in all scientific fields today, if you follow such things at all. People can't penetrate inner things anymore, and they try to arrive at laws through statistics everywhere.
This is the hardest to combat in the medical field, where it has caught on in the most terrible way, and where all clinical methods tend in this direction. One simply records whether medicaments have a positive or negative effect, etc., in a statistical manner. This statistical element is becoming established, but it is completely worthless in this field. For it really tells one nothing to know how many cases went one way and how many went the other way. The important thing is to have a really thorough understanding of the individual case, no matter how it turns out. Only when all the cognitional methods have been pressed into the service of a study of the individual cases and their individual forms,—only after one has everything else through individual observations can one use statistics at the end and say that the thing was favorable in so and so many cases and unfavorable in the rest. As you know, statistics are very popular in social studies and social democracy.
The statistical approach has also produced some very nonsensical things in connection with suicides and crazy people. One determines what percent of the people in particular professions committed suicide or went crazy. But it has no real value to know this. Because the important thing is to know why this individual committed suicide and why that individual became insane. And so with regard to this statistical approach which scientists think is so important today when they write about theories of knowledge,—it's really as if Satan were loose: it's really quite terrible.
This approach has been successful for the Satanic power in central Europe and in the east. It became a philosophy in Avenarius and Mach, who were studied by leading Bolshevik philosophers, who then brought the thing to Russia and made it practical. Even good natured people who want evolution to proceed in an orderly way don't pay much attention to the fact that the seeds for Bolshevism were laid in central Europe decades ago and were carried over to Russia; it's as if one takes a seedling and transports it to another place where it is supposed to grow up.
Thus this Satanic power is working hard today and he turns to people everywhere and appeals to their emancipated intellect that is disconnected with things in some way. This applies to the soul, to the spirit, to inner conversions, etc. If Satan were to succeed in bringing about what he wants to do within a certain time, what has to approach then would occur in a harmful way for the evolution of humanity.
For the events of which the Apocalypticer speaks will come. It's just a question of how they will occur. There's only two possibilities: either human evolution will proceed in accordance with the intentions of the gods, or it will not. Intellectuality is breaking in now and men are becoming more and more intelligent through their own efforts, and not through inspiration. That is breaking in. But on the other hand mankind has been kept weak by influences that come from the Luciferic side. Even though the individual element is the only salutary thing for mankind in this age of the individuality, which is really a Christian age, groups will form, but these group formations must be taken away from the danger that they're in.
Through the efforts that the Satanic power is making to acquire the intellectual forces of humanity, a time will come when this Satanic power will be so strong that it will approach all groups that will have formed. So that it will really come about that Satan's power will work towards the four corners of the world, and these smaller and larger groups—Gog and Magog—will be exposed to the temptation and the seduction of the Satanic power. What will be decided then is whether or not those who have begun to work with spirituality have developed such an intensity that human intellectuality can be led to where it belongs with the aid of the Michael power, namely, to the starting powers who were connected with the origins of human evolution, and who want to lead what men have become further, although men are left free. A great deal will depend upon whether; men will get to the point where they will fully understand real spirituality that has an inner order. In priestly work one must already look at these affairs of humanity now, for only if one succeeds in directing everything into channels that run along these lines will the great seduction scene that Satan intends with Gog and Magog turn out in a way that is beneficial for human evolution.
Otherwise what men have experienced under the influence of their developing individualities; since the year 666 after the beginning of Christian evolution will someday have to be torn out of humanity. Darkness would be spread over all previous human incarnations and a new world evolution would replace the earthly one. We can already see the beginnings of this quite clearly, and we can also see the great danger that mankind is in today. Ahrimanic powers possess an almost unbelievably large amount of intellectuality, and they use men's vanity, untruthfulness and all of their other weaknesses in order to win them over. For instance, it is really quite terrible how the Satanic powers used the vanities of men at the beginning of the world war in order to create a tremendous turmoil in a few days—after there had been a very deep state of sleep—which put people in a great uproar, so that they're still not sure what really happened.
But it's only a phase. There are much worse phases in the purely intellectual so-called spiritual battles of the present. For where can one find truth anymore? One sees that things are being introduced everywhere in such a way that truth of action or a true way of working is becoming less and less important for men today. Just think of how they're increasingly trying to put the spiritual life under the control of the state. Just look at how much of our spiritual life is under state control.
All of these things expose humanity to a great danger, but men are not inclined to develop a real understanding along these lines. You could see this when the first attempt was made to do something with the threefolding movement so that the seduction by Gog and Magog that is to happen in the future can be brought into channels that are favorable for humanity. The threefolding idea should have led mankind over the threshold of evolution, and also would have had to lead it across, but the way it was received shows the tremendous dangers that mankind is exposed to with respect to these things, and priests should take these things very seriously.
There was an individual in the early Christian centuries who lived in the place where the actual church battle occurred which then made preparations in Europe for the Christianity that had been present in Rome throughout the centuries, who experienced the year 666 and perceived what really went on there with a certain clairvoyant power. This particular individual saw quite clearly and spiritually that the Satanic power was preparing itself for such a mission. Like many other people, this individual later confused the Satanic power that Michael knows is higher than he is, with the devil of the Middle Ages; he speaks of the devil, but in such a way that one sees that he really means the Satanic power. He reincarnated in Berlin in the first half of the 19th century; he was a high school teacher by the name of Drandorf. He spoke about the devil, that is, about Satan, and he wrote an article Is the Devil a Figment of the Imagination? You should also study his book on aesthetics some time. Drandorf remained relatively unknown; the consistorial and supreme consistorial counselors in Berlin were his enemies.
What all of this amounts to is: will you priests be able to represent the spiritual world in its full reality and not just in the sentimental way in which this has occurred everywhere in the last few centuries, so that one doesn't want to bring in the evil powers whenever one is speaking about the spirit. In other words, the main question is whether there is enough energy among you to really represent spirituality. The main thing is that such things like a knowledge of karma or an honest look, at earlier earth lives presuppose the same attitude of soul as the perception of the celebration of transubstantiation during an act of consecration of man.
These ideas must become real for men again. Only if they become real will it become possible to bring everything that is connected with the perspectives for humanity which the Apocalypticer wanted so much to present, into the right channels. It should be emphasized that the things that were discussed here in connection with the Apocalypse are truths which one should not receive without uniting them with one's whole being, which one should not receive without looking upon them as a kind of communion.
So one would like to say that a church is outwardly real, and it embraces the faithful members of the congregation. And the priesthood must look upon itself as that group of people in the church through whose activity a spiritual element flows into humanity. For this they need the right understanding and a little chapel for the sacraments and the consecrated bread and wine, which contains the secret of transubstantiation.
And one would like to say: If we imagine that we have a chalice, in which transubstantiation takes place, then men look for a way to the Father through transubstantiation. They look for a way to that creative power in the primal world which is present in there in a fully real way, and which therefore cannot be found if one only goes towards the material or only towards the spiritual. It can only be found if one discovers that the spiritual and the material are a unity. An understanding of the world is only present today when a transubstantiation is carried out at an altar. A sacred search for the Father really still occurs there, and here the Son always shows men the way to the Father; the Son who now mediates the way to the spirit.
And so when a man looks at what appears everywhere in the physical things during transubstantiation he can find the completely hidden spirit and the working of the Seraphim, Cherubim and Thrones in the physical things. Their concealed activity becomes manifest as physical substances. If one wants to have the latter as something spiritual, one has to take the path to the Father. The path to the Father is indicated by the Son, and he then brings it about that the spiritual appears out of the physical.
Bread is bread, but one can look for the Father in it; this can also be shown for the wine. Christ shows the way; the transubstantiation puts an aura around the bread; man experiences the spirit in the aura. The wine reinforces what is present in the bread (drawing: sun). And so one can say that the longing for the Father is present in the sensory aspect that conceals the Seraphim, Cherubim and Thrones. Christ leads each human being on the path, so that Kyriotetes, Dynamis and Exusiai become active before him in the way ye indicated yesterday, and he ascends into that region where he can only perceive the spirituality of the spiritual world today in angels, archangels and Archai, who however have the Holy Spirit in their midst.
To understand this and to draw the right conclusion from it today is written in the Apocalypse. What does that mean? It means that the one who understands it finds his own understanding already traced out in the Apocalypse. Hence one can say that whether or not the Apocalypse is speaking about you depends upon you and upon whether you will it.
For if you take the impulses in the Apocalypse into your work as priests in a truly spiritual way, you will be the ones who are spoken of in the Apocalypse, who will come and will ward off the power of the beast, the false prophet and Satan. And then at least in your mind you will always think that the book of the Apocalypse is placed underneath the chalice when it is standing there for the transubstantiation. And as you imagine that the chalice is standing on the apocalyptic book, you will be able to say to yourselves: My vocation is in the latter. And what we do over it is the carrying out of my vocation.
And so I didn't want to give you a theoretical exposition during this conference. After the justified wish arose in you to hear something about the Apocalypse I wanted to give you what I did and therewith I wanted to place the Apocalypse underneath the chalice for you, at least in your minds. That is the goal I had in mind for these lectures. You will definitely succeed in attaining the things that are possible if you intensify the ideals of your work as greatly as you can if you make these serious studies of the Apocalypse into the innermost impulse of your own activity. That is what I wanted to place before you at the end of these reflections. You can imagine that the most intensive thoughts about an intensive, forceful activity that is worthy of your great task will accompany everything that you will do in connection with these reflections.
Achtzehnter Vortrag
[ 1 ] Meine lieben Freunde! Wir haben die Apokalypse betrachtet in ihrem inneren Geiste und wir haben sie betrachtet mit Bezug auf Euer Priesterwirken, und es ist ja ganz selbstverständlich, daß in Anknüpfung an die Apokalypse noch alles mögliche zu sagen wäre, daß namentlich die ganze Komposition der Apokalypse entrollt werden könnte. Aber es scheint mir, daß diese Veranstaltung in Dornach ihren besten Inhalt dadurch bekommen kann, daß zunächst dasjenige, was hier in Anknüpfung an die ApokaIypse gesagt worden ist, wirklich praktisch im priesterlichen Wirken weiter zutage tritt.
[ 2 ] Wir haben heute noch an eines anzuknüpfen. Wir müssen bedenken, daß wir ja leben im Zeitalter der Bewußitseinsseele, jener Etappe der gesamtmenschlichen Evolution, in der der Mensch die Intellektualität sozusagen in die Hand zu nehmen hat, in seine eigene Individualität hereinzugliedern hat. Natürlich ist dieses Zeitalter jetzt sozusagen das erste, das auf den Geist des Menschen noch beschränkte, in welchem die Dinge, die die Aneignung der Intellektualität betreffen, ablaufen innerhalb des menschlichen Sinnens und Denkens. Es wird ein Zeitalter kommen, in dem auch die tieferen Kräfte der menschlichen Seele ergriffen werden von demjenigen, was sich jetzt mehr abspielt innerhalb des Sinnens und Trachtens und Denkens.
[ 3 ] Gegenwärtig ist der Mensch noch in der Lage, sich Vorstellungen darüber zu machen, wie er sich der in seine eigene Individualität hereinbrechenden Intellektualität bedienen soll. Aber es wird dieser Zeitraum der Bewußtseinsseelenentwickelung nicht ablaufen, ohne daß auch die Seelen selbst in ihren tiefsten Emotionen, in ihren Gefühlen, in ihren Leidenschaften ergriffen werden von der Intellektualität, und dann wird dasjenige eben noch tiefer und gründlicher im Menschen wohnen, was noch im Mittelalter gesucht worden ist in den Sternen, als man von engelischen Intelligenzen in den Sternen redete. Das alles wird ja im Menschen abgeladen. Und wenn dann später die Jupiterzeit kommt, so wird auch die menschliche Leiblichkeit ergriffen werden von der Intellektualität. Gerade gegenwärtig ist es daher noch möglich — weil die Dinge noch so liegen, daß der Mensch in Gedanken und Worte fassen kann, um was es sich handelt, weil die Seele noch nicht in ihrem innersten Gefüge von der Intellektualität ergriffen ist —, gerade gegenwärtig ist es daher namentlich im Priesterwirken noch möglich, dieses Wirken so zu orientieren, daß die Weltenzwecke, die Weltenziele wirklich erreicht werden können.
[ 4 ] Denn sehen Sie, die Sache liegt ja so, daß der Mensch, indem er die Intellektualität an sich heranreißt aus dem Weltenall - und das liegt ja schließlich in der Weltenweisheit, daß er sie heranreißt-, daß der Mensch die Möglichkeit gibt, in unbewachten Momenten, die ja immer da sind, diese Intellektualität ergreifen zu lassen von jener ahrimanischen Macht, die in der christlichen Tradition der Satan genannt wird und der nicht verwechselt werden darf mit dem gewöhnlichen Teufel, welcher ja nicht die Eigenschaften des Satans hat, sondern eine niedrigere Macht ist. Satan hat den Rang von Urkräften, von Archai, und er ist derjenige, welcher im Verlaufe der Weltevolution diese Intellektualität ergriffen hat, lange bevor sie in der Art, wie es geschildert wurde, an den Menschen herantritt. Er ist gegenwärtig sozusagen der umfassendste Besitzer der Intellektualität, und er strebt danach, die menschliche Intellektualität so stark an die seinige zu binden, daß der Mensch auf diesem Wege herausfallen kann aus seiner Evolution. Also das Mysterium von Golgatha unwirksam zu machen, danach strebt diese ahrimanische Macht.
[ 5 ] Nun, diese ahrimanische Macht, die in der christlichen Tradition der Satan genannt wird, hat keine Kraft, weiter hinauf zu wirken in den verschiedenen Weltenniveaus, als bis zum Menschen. Man kann sich also nicht denken, daß zum Beispiel die Intelligenz eines Angelos unmittelbar ergriffen werden könnte von dieser satanischen Macht. Nur in gewissen Ausnahmefällen kann das geschehen. Und das Wissen um diese Möglichkeit, daß in der Zukunft Momente eintreten könnten, wo es der satanischen Macht auch möglich sein könnte, nicht nur die Menschen an sich zu binden auf dem Umweg durch die Intellektualität, sondern wo die satanische Macht auch Wesen aus dem Gebiete der Angeloi, namentlich der Archangeloi, an sich binden könnte, das gehört gegenwärtig noch zu den höheren Geheimnissen des Okkultismus, über die vorläufig nicht gesprochen werden kann, und die nur unter gewissen Bedingungen enthüllt werden können. So daß wir nur andeuten können, daß eben in der Zukunft einmal selbst eine Verführung und Versuchung von Wesen aus der Hierarchie der Angeloi und namentlich der Archangeloi möglich sein könnte. Heute haben wir zunächst damit zu rechnen, daß die in der christlichen Tradition Satan genannte Macht die Gabe hat, sich sozusagen an dasjenige anzuhängen, was im Innern des Menschen mit einer solchen Selbständigkeit auftritt wie die Intellektualität; und dann, wenn gewissermaßen die im Menschen enthaltene Intellektualität ergriffen wird von der ahrimanischen Macht, dann kann der Mensch aus seiner Evolution herausgerissen werden in eine ganz andere Bahn, indem einfach sein Wesen nachgerissen wird von seinem Intellekt, bei dem Satan in der Lage ist anzuknüpfen. Das wäre bei keiner anderen seelischen oder geistigen Kraft, bei keiner anderen leiblichen Kraft im Menschen möglich als lediglich bei dem Intellekt, denn der Intellekt sitzt so im Menschen, daß er im Menschen das Allerselbständigste vorstellt; alles übrige hängt an gewissen göttlichen Mächten. Daher hat Satan es dann, wenn er sich zum Beispiel an das Fühlen, an das Empfinden, an das Begehren und Wünschen der Menschen heranmachen würde, immer noch zu tun mit den in diesen Seelenfähigkeiten darinsteckenden übermenschlichen Kräften. Die Intellektualität ist das erste, mit dem der Mensch sich ganz loslösen kann von den Wesenheiten, die seine persönliche Evolution bewirken, sie ist das erste, wo der Mensch durch seine ganz ureigene freie Kraft anknüpfen muß an diejenigen Mächte, die von Anfang an bei seiner Entwickelung gestanden haben.
[ 6 ] So muß der Mensch verstehen lernen, daß er sich freiwillig zu identifizieren hat mit den letzten Zielen der Apokalypse, wo deutlich angedeutet wird von dem Apokalyptiker, daß da erscheinen wird diejenige Macht, die das Alpha und Omega der durchgehenden Schöpferkräfte, das durchgehende Schöpferwesen der Evolution darstellt, und daß der Mensch aus eigener EntschlieRung sich anzuschließen hat an dasjenige Wesen, das ihn geleitet hat, solange er noch nicht kosmosmündig war.
[ 7 ] Diesen großen Moment in der Menschheitsevolution kann allerdings Satan benützen, um in dieser Weise mit dem Intellekt den Menschen mit hinüberzuziehen in seinen eigentlichen Bereich. Jetzt schon können wir sehen, wie die satanische Macht bemüht ist, den Menschen in dieser Weise in ihre Evolution hineinzubringen. Der Weg dazu ist der, daß man die Menschen zusammenfaßt in solchen Verbänden, wie wir sie ja überall heute im Keim entstehen sehen, wo die alten Gruppenseelen aufhören und eine neue Gruppenseelenhaftigkeit beginnen kann. Daher ist das, was zum Beispiel gegenwärtig im europäischen Osten geschicht, so furchtbar satanisch, weil alles darauf hinführt, dort mit aller Kraft Menschen so zusammenzufassen, daß Gruppenseelen notwendig würden. Wenn dann die Intelligentesten so hinübergenommen werden in das niedere Gebiet des Ahrimanischen, dann können die Gruppen, die da gebildet werden, als Gruppen nur ahrimanischen Mächten zugeteilt werden; und dann wäre das der Weg für die satanischen Mächte, um die Menschheit aus der Erdenevolution herauszureißen und in eine andere planetarische Evolution hineinzubringen. Die Gruppenseelenhaftigkeit kann eben nur dann gelingen, wenn das intellektuelle Element in einer gewissen Weise vollständig emanzipiert wird. Dazu werden im Osten heute die allerraffiniertesten Ansätze gemacht. Und gerade für das Priesterwirken sollten Sie dies deshalb verstehen, weil diese Ansätze dort im Osten in der stärksten Weise hervortreten; es kommt aber durchaus in Mittel- und Westeuropa überall auch vor.
[ 8 ] So muß zum Beispiel etwas besprochen werden, das als mehr oder weniger harmlos erscheint, das aber doch mit einem sehr bitteren Ernst im exoterischen Leben gesehen werden muß, das ist das Hineinlaufenlassen der Psychologie, der Seelenkunde, in eine Experimentalbeobachtung. Das ist einer der Wege, welche dahin führen, daß das Seelische nicht im Sinne der alten göttlichen Mächte von Mensch zu Mensch wirkt, sondern daß es in emanzipierter Intellektualität vom äußerlich Zahlenmäßigen oder in sonstiger äußerlicher Weise bestimmt wird. Diese Dinge sind noch harmlos in Mitteleuropa. Aber Sie sollten bedenken, daß im Westen — namentlich bei William James, aber auch bei anderen — aufgekommen ist, eine statistische Betrachtungsweise, also eine intellektualistische, vom Seelenleben emanzipierte Betrachtungsweise anzuwenden selbst für die innere Umkehr des Menschen, für dasjenige, was man nennen könnte das innerlich religiöse Sichfinden, das bei vielen Menschen heute in einem gewissen Moment eintritt so gegen das zwanzigste Jahr. Gegen das zwanzigste Jahr hin tritt ja heute bei vielen Menschen der Moment eines innerlichen, eines rein aus dem Innern heraus eintretenden Bekehrtwerdens auf; die Menschen werden da von etwas erfaßt, das wie ein Aufwirbeln der Gottheit aus der eigenen Seele ist. In Amerika wird statistisch aufgenommen, wieviel Prozent der Bevölkerung solche inneren Bekehrungen durchmachen. Die Sache wird statistisch behandelt. Was daran satanisch ist, das ist eben das statistische Behandeln, das Zusammenstellen dieser Dinge durch den emanzipierten Intellekt. Diese Bekehrungen sind ja alle nichts anderes als karmische Auslebungen, und deshalb muß man sie für jeden einzelnen Fall betrachten.
[ 9 ] Sehen Sie, es wird heute auf dem Gebiete der Naturwissenschaften überall außerordentlich die statistische Methode gerühmt. Wer den Gang der heutigen Naturwissenschaft verfolgt, findet überall eine ungeheure Lobrede auf die statistische Methode gesungen. Die Menschen können gar nicht mehr an das Innere heran und suchen überall, aus den Statistiken Gesetze zu gewinnen. Am schwersten ist das zu bekämpfen auf medizinischem Gebiet, wo es in der furchtbarsten Weise eingerissen ist, wo alle klinischen Methoden darauf ausgehen, bei Heilmitteln einfach in Statistiken zu registrieren, ob sie positiv oder negativ gewirkt haben und so weiter. Da nistet sich dieses statistische Element ein, und gerade da ist es ganz wertlos, denn es besagt im Grunde genommen gar nichts, ob man weiß, wieviele Fälle so ausgehen und wieviele Fälle so ausgehen. Sondern es muß sich immer darum handeln, den einzelnen Fall durch und durch zu verstehen, gleichviel wie er ausgeht. Erst dann, wenn die ganzen Erkenntnismethoden wieder dahin gelangt sind, den einzelnen Fall in seiner individuellen Gestaltung zu studieren, kann man die ganze Statistik — die ja, wie Sie wissen, gerade in sozialen Betrachtungen in der Sozialdemokratie eine riesige Rolle gespielt hat — nur insoweit gelten lassen, als sie, ich möchte sagen, zuletzt eingeführt werden kann, wenn man alles übrige individuell betrachtet hat; dann kann man sagen, in soundsoviel Fällen ist die Sache günstig oder sie ist ungünstig verlaufen.
[ 10 ] Ebenso hat die statistische Betrachtungsweise einen ungeheuren Unsinn angerichtet als Selbstmordstatistik oder als Verrücktenstatistik. Man stellt fest, wieviel Prozent der Menschen in bestimmten Berufen durch Selbstmord enden oder wahnsinnig werden. Es hat gar keinen Wert für wirkliche Erkenntnis, dies zu wissen. Denn das Wesentliche ist, wie der einzelne zum Selbstmord kommt, wie der einzelne wahnsinnig wird.
[ 11 ] Und so ist es mit dieser statistischen Betrachtungsweise, die heute überall eine große Rolle spielt, wo Naturwissenschaftler über Erkenntnistheorie schreiben, es ist mit dieser statistischen Betrachtungsweise wirklich so, wie wenn Satan los wäre. Es ist schon ganz schrecklich. Sehen Sie, diese Betrachtungsweise, die das Wirken der satanischen Macht eben in Mitteleuropa und im Osten gezeigt hat, ist Philosophie geworden bei Avenarius und bei Mach, bei denen wieder die führenden bolschewistischen Philosophen ihre Studien gemacht haben, die die Sache praktisch nach Rußland gebracht haben. Auch auf Seiten derjenigen, die gutmütig die fortschreitende Evolution der Menschheit sehen wollen, sieht man heute gewöhnlich diese Dinge so - nun ja, sie gehen so vor, aber man kümmert sich nicht darum -, daß in Mitteleuropa schon vor Jahrzehnten die Keime zum Bolschewismus gelegt wurden und nur nach Rußland hinübergetragen worden sind. Es ist, wie wenn man einen Keim nimmt und wegträgt, der dann irgendwo aufgehen soll.
[ 12 ] So ist jene satanische Macht heute schon überall durchaus am Werk und wendet sich überallhin, zu appellieren an den emanzipierten Intellekt, der die Dinge irgendwie ohne inneren Zusammenhang mit der Sache betrachtet, so bei Seelischem, bei Geistigem, bei inneren Bekehrungen und so weiter. Wenn es Satan gelingen würde, bis zu einem bestimmten Zeitpunkt die Sache soweit gebracht zu haben, wie er es haben will, dann würde eben in einer die Evolution der Menschheit schädigenden Weise dasjenige verlaufen, was ja dann herankommen muß. Denn sehen Sie, die Ereignisse, von denen der Apokalyptiker spricht, die kommen ja. Es handelt sich bloß darum, wie sie verlaufen. Und in den Ereignissen der Zukunft gibt es ja eigentlich überall noch zwei Eventualitäten: die eine ist der mögliche Verlauf im Sinne der von den Göttern bedachten Menschheitsevolution, die andere Eventualität — dagegen.
[ 13 ] Nun, die Intellektualität bricht herein, die Menschen werden immer intelligenter und intelligenter, nicht durch Inspiration, sondern durch eigene Kraft. Das bricht herein. Aber auf der anderen Seite ist durch Einflüsse, die wiederum von luziferischer Seite herkommen, doch die Menschheit schwach erhalten worden. Und so wird es Gruppenbildungen geben, trotzdem im Zeitalter der Individualität, dem eigentlichen christlichen Zeitalter, das Individuelle das für die Menschheit Heilsame ist. Es wird Gruppenbildungen geben, aber diese Gruppenbildungen müssen aus der Gefahr herausgehoben werden, in der sie sind.
[ 14 ] Und so wird der Zeitpunkt eintreten, wo in der Tat die satanische Macht durch dasjenige, was sie an Anstrengungen entwickelt hat, um die Intelligenzkräfte der Menschheit zu gewinnen, wo diese satanische Macht so groß sein wird, daß sie an alle Gruppen, die sich gebildet haben, herantreten wird; so daß es wirklich so kommen wird, daß Satans Macht nach den vier Ecken der Welt wirken wird. Und diese Gruppen, kleinere Gruppen: Gog, oder größere Gruppen: Magog, sie werden der Versuchung, der Verführung der satanischen Macht ausgesetzt sein. Und ob dann diejenigen, die die Spiritualität mittlerweile in die Hand genommen haben, eine solche Intensität entwickeln, daß die menschliche Intellektualität mit Hilfe der Michael-Kraft dahin geführt werden kann, wo sie hingehört — an die Ursprungsmächte, die im Ausgang der menschlichen Entwickelung da waren, und die dasjenige, was Menschen bisher geworden sind, weiterführen wollen mit der menschlichen Freiheit —, das ist dasjenige, was sich dann entscheiden wird. Davon wird ungeheuer viel abhängen, ob die Menschen dazu kommen werden, wirkliche Spiritualität, wirkliche Geistigkeit mit einer inneren Ordnung auch gründlich zu verstehen.
[ 15 ] Auf diese ganze Angelegenheit der Menschheit muß eben heute schon hingeschaut werden beim priesterlichen Wirken, weil nur, wenn es uns gelingt, alles in die Bahnen zu lenken, die in dieser Linie laufen, die große Verführungsszene, die Satan beabsichtigt mit Gog und Magog, in einer solchen Weise ausgehen wird, daß es für die menschliche Entwickelung heilsam ist.
[ 16 ] Sonst aber kann nichts anderes geschehen, als daß eines Tages in der Zukunft alles dasjenige herausgerissen wird aus der Menschheit, was die Menschen erlebt haben etwa seit dem 7. Jahrhundert der nachchristlichen Entwickelung, seit dem Jahre 666, alles das, was sie erlebt haben schon unter dem Einfluß der entwickelten Individualität. Über alle früheren Inkarnationen der Menschheit würde Finsternis verbreitet, und es würde eine neue Weltevolution an die Stelle der irdischen gesetzt werden. Wir können heute schon klar die Anfänge davon sehen und wir können auch die große Gefahr sehen, die für die Menschheit heute durchaus schon besteht. Es werden alle Schwächen der Menschen dazu benützt — weil eben die denkbar größte Intellektualität bei den ahrimanischen Mächten ist —, es werden alle Schwächen der Menschen, namentlich ihre Eitelkeit und ihre Unwahrhaftigkeit, dazu benützt, um die Menschen herüberzubekommen. Was im Ausgangspunkte des Weltkrieges da alles gewirkt hat, das ist eigentlich etwas Furchtbares. Es ist furchtbar, wie Eitelkeiten der Menschen dazu benutzt worden sind von den satanischen Mächten, um, nachdem zuerst ein ungeheurer Schlafzustand da war, in wenigen Tagen [1914] einen Wirbel heraufzubringen, der die Menschen in einen furchtbaren Taumel versetzte, so daß sie heute noch nicht klar sind, was eigentlich dazumal geschehen ist.
[ 17 ] Aber das ist ja nur eine Phase. Die noch viel schlimmeren Phasen spielen sich heute vorläufig ab innerhalb rein intellektueller sogenannter Geisteskämpfe der Gegenwart. Denn wo ist eigentlich noch Wahrheit? Man sieht überall, wie ja die Dinge so eingeleitet werden, daß Wahrheit des Wirkens für die Menschen immer weniger und weniger in Betracht kommt. Denken Sie nur daran, daß immer mehr und mehr gestrebt wird, das geistige Leben in die Bahnen des Staates hineinzubringen. Wieviel ist vom Geistesleben in den Bahnen des Staates! Alle diese Dinge setzen die Menschheit einer großen Gefahr aus, aber die Menschen sind nicht geneigt, nach dieser Richtung hin wirkliches Verständnis zu entwickeln. Das konnten Sie sehen, als mit der Dreigliederungsbewegung sozusagen der erste Vorstoß gemacht werden sollte gegen die Verführung von Gog und Magog, um dasjenige, was in der Zukunft einmal eintreten soll, in solche Bahnen zu leiten, daß dann die weitere Entwickelung in einem für die Menschheit günstigen Sinne verlaufen könnte. Aber die Art und Weise, wie die Dreigliederungsidee aufgenommen wurde, die eigentlich die Menschheit über diese Schwelle der Entwickelung hätte hinüberführen sollen, die zeigt eben, in welch ungeheuren Gefahren die Menschheit in bezug auf diese Dinge schwebt. Deshalb ist es vor allen Dingen notwendig, daß man in der Priesterschaft auch diese Dinge völlig ernst nimmt.
[ 18 ] Sehen Sie, es hat einmal eine solche Individualität gegeben — das war in den ersten Jahrhunderten der christlichen Entwickelung, so daß sie mitmachte das Jahr 666 -, die mit einer gewissen hellseherischen Kraft sah, was da eigentlich sich abspielte und was es bedeutete, daß die satanische Macht sich vorbereitete schon dazumal zu einer solchen Mission. Diese Individualität, die dazumal an der Stätte gelebt hat, wo der eigentliche kirchliche Kampf sich abspielte, in Rom, und die dann in Europa vorbereitete das Christentum, erkannte das dazumal geistig klar. Später verwechselte sie nur, wie es so vielen gegangen ist, diese satanische Macht - von der ich Ihnen sagte, daß selbst Michael sie anerkennt in ihrer höheren Position - mit dem Teufel des Mittelalters und sprach vom Teufel, aber sie sprach vom Teufel so, daß man wirklich sieht, die satanische Macht ist gemeint. In Berlin ist diese Individualität wiederverkörpert in der ersten Hälfte des 19. Jahrhunderts, Trahndorff hieß er, ein gewöhnlicher Gymnasiallehrer. Ja, er trat für die Existenz des Teufels ein, das heißt, eigentlich des Satans, er hat eine Schrift geschrieben: «Ist der Teufel ein Hirngespinst?», aber nicht nur das, er hat auch eine Ästhetik geschrieben. Befassen Sie sich mit dieser Ästhetik. Man hat keine Möglichkeit, bei Theologen auf Trahndorff hinzuweisen, weil er unberücksichtigt geblieben ist; die Konsistorialräte und Oberkonsistorialräte in Berlin waren seine Feinde.
[ 19 ] Diese Dinge laufen alle auf die Frage hinaus: Wird die Priesterschaft in der Lage sein, die geistige Welt in ihrer vollen Realität zu vertreten, nicht bloß in der sentimentalen Art, wie das in den letzten Jahrhunderten überall geworden ist, daß man, sobald es sich um den Geist handelt, die böse Macht gar nicht hereinbringen will? Also darum handelt es sich, ob die Energie vorhanden ist, die Spiritualität wirklich zu vertreten. Das ist schließlich unter uns, meine lieben Freunde, wirklich die Hauptsache. Es ist die Hauptsache, daß solche Dinge wie Karmaerkenntnis, ehrliches Hinschauen auf frühere Erdenleben, dieselbe Seelenverfassung voraussetzen wie das Anschauen des Zelebrierens der Transsubstantiation während der Menschenweihehandlung. Diese Vorstellungen müssen wiederum real werden innerhalb der Menschheit. Nur wenn sie real werden, wird es eine Möglichkeit geben, meine lieben Freunde, alles das, was gerade dem Apokalyptiker so sehr am Herzen gelegen hatte, hinzustellen als eine Perspektive für die Menschheit und das alles in die richtigen Bahnen zu bringen. Man möchte schon sagen, gerade die Dinge, die hier besprochen worden sind im Anschluß an die Apokalypse, sie sind solche Wahrheiten, die man nicht empfangen sollte, ohne den ganzen Menschen mit ihnen zu verbinden, die man nicht empfangen sollte, ohne sie selber wie eine Art Kommunion zu betrachten.
[ 20 ] So daß man wirklich sagen möchte: Eine richtige Ecclesia umfaßt in ihrer äußeren Realität die Gläubigen, und die Priesterschaft muß sich ansehen als diejenige Wesenschaft innerhalb der Ecclesia, über deren Wirken das Geistige in die Menschheit fließt. Dazu bedarf es schon mit richtigem Verständnis auch der kleinen Sakramentenkapelle mit dem Sanktissimum, dem Sanktissimum, wo eben enthalten ist das Geheimnis der Transsubstantiation. Stellen wir uns vor, wir haben den Kelch, innerhalb dessen die Transsubstantiation sich vollzieht. Die Menschen suchen durch die Transsubstantiation den Weg zum Vater, zu jener Urwelt-Schöpfermacht, die in aller Realität darin weset, die daher nicht gefunden werden kann, wenn man einseitig nur nach dem Geistigen oder einseitig nur nach dem Materiellen geht, sondern die gefunden wird, wenn man die Einheit des Geistigen mit dem Materiellen unmittelbar entdeckt. Es ist eben heute wirkliches Verständnis für die Welt nur vorhanden, wenn auf dem Altar die Transsubstantiation vollzogen wird. Da vollzieht sich in der Tat das Heilige, daß der Vater gesucht wird und der Sohn den Menschen den Weg weist zu dem Vater, der Sohn, der nun eben den Weg vermittelt zum Geiste.
[ 21 ] Und so kann der Mensch, indem er hinblickt auf dasjenige, was sich überall im Physischen darstellt, bei der Transsubstantiation finden das ganz verborgene Geistige im Physischen, das Walten der Seraphim, der Cherubim, der Throne, deren verborgenes Walten erscheint als physische Substanz. Will man es als Geistiges haben, so muß man den Weg zum Vater gehen. Den Weg zum Vater weist der Sohn, der dann dazu führt, daß das Geistige erscheint aus dem Physischen.
[ 22 ] Das Brot - wenn wir nur von diesem ausgehen, denn es kann auch für den Wein gezeigt werden -, das Brot ist Brot, aber der Vater kann in ihm gesucht werden. Christus weist den Weg, das Brot umgibt sich mit der Aura durch die Transsubstantiation, der Mensch erlebt in der Aura den Geist. Es ist so, daß der Wein nur die Verstärkung desjenigen ausmacht, was im Brote liegt.
[ 23 ] Und so kann gesagt werden: Die Sehnsucht nach dem Vater lebt im sinnlichen Anblick, wo verborgen sind Seraphim, Cherubim, Throne. Christus führt den Menschen auf den Weg, so daß vor ihm in der gestern angedeuteten Weise wirksam werden Kyriotetes, Dynameis, Exusiai, und er aufsteigt in dasjenige Gebiet, wo er heute die geistige Welt in ihrer Geistigkeit nur betrachten kann, wo aber der Heilige Geist mitten drinnen ist: Angeloi, Archangeloi, Archai.
[ 24 ] Und das, meine lieben Freunde, steht in der Apokalypse drinnen. Das zu verstehen und daraus den Schluß zu ziehen, daß das verstanden wird heute — was bedeutet das? Es bedeutet, daß derjenige, der es versteht, sein eigenes Verständnis in der Apokalypse vorgezeichnet findet. Daher darf gesagt werden: Es kommt nur auf Euch an, meine lieben Freunde, ob Ihr wollt, daß in der Apokalypse von Euch gesprochen worden ist oder nicht. Denn wenn Ihr in wahrhaft spirituellem Sinne in Euer Priesterwirken die Impulse der Apokalypse aufnehmt, dann seid Ihr diejenigen, von denen in der Apokalypse gesprochen worden ist, daß sie kommen werden und die Gewalt des Tieres, des falschen Propheten, des Satans abweisen werden. Und dann werdet Ihr wenigstens im Geiste immerdar da, wo der Kelch für die Transsubstantiation steht, unter diesem Kelch Euch das apokalyptische Buch denken. Und indem Ihr Euch denkt: Der Kelch steht auf dem apokalyptischen Buch -, werdet Ihr in der Lage sein, Euch zu sagen: Da drinnen steht meine Berufung, und was wir darüber tun, das ist die Ausführung meiner Berufung.
[ 25 ] Und so, meine lieben Freunde, wollte ich nicht eine theoretische Auseinandersetzung mit dieser Tagung geben, sondern ich wollte Euch - nachdem der berechtigte Wunsch in Euch entstanden ist, etwas über die Apokalypse zu hören — das geben, was ich Euch gegeben habe und Euch damit die Apokalypse im Geiste unter den Kelch legen. Das ist es, wohin ich diese Betrachtung führen wollte. Es wird Euch unter allen Umständen gelingen, dasjenige zu erreichen, was in den Möglichkeiten liegt, meine lieben Freunde, wenn Ihr die Ideale Eures Wirkens so stark spannt, wie Ihr sie spannen könnt, gerade dann, wenn Ihr die ernsten Betrachtungen der Apokalypse zum innerlichsten Impuls Eures eigenen Wirkens macht.
[ 26 ] Das ist dasjenige, was ich als das Ende dieser Betrachtungen vor Euch habe hinstellen wollen, meine lieben Freunde. Ihr könnt Euch denken, daß die intensivsten Gedanken auf ein intensives, eindringliches und der großen Aufgabe würdiges Wirken alles das begleiten werden, was Ihr nun wiederum im Anschluß an diese Betrachtung tun werdet.
Friedrich Rittelmeyer spricht Dankesworte. [Die Worte Rittelmeyers wurden nicht mitgeschrieben.]
[ 27 ] Rudolf Steiner: Wenn wir das verstehen, was in diesen Worten ausgesprochen ist, die ja nicht ein äußerliches, sondern ein innerliches Herzensgelöbnis sind, und wenn wir verstehen, es in den Lichtschein der recht verstandenen Gnade zu stellen, so wird dasjenige, was geschehen soll, geschehen. Denn das, um was es sich handelt, ist, daß die Götter- und Menschenwege in der Gegenwart sich zusammenfinden. Michael wird der große Vermittler sein zwischen Götterwegen und Menschenwegen. Sehen wir auf sein Wirken! Lernen wir aus seinem vergangenen Anfangswirken das, was durch die Zukunft hin geschehen soll! Dann dürfen wir nicht nur mit einem gutgewollten, sondern mit einem mutigen Enthusiasmus in die Zukunft hineinsehen und werden immer mehr und mehr uns im Wollen zusammengeführt sehen mit dem göttlichen Willen, der die Menschen von Anfang an leitet, dann werden wir unsere Freiheit verbunden fühlen mit der Götter Freiheit. Das ist es, was wir empfinden müssen. Und dann werden wir an jedem Tag, wenn wir unser Tagewerk vollbracht haben, uns auch sagen dürfen, indem wir für den folgenden Tag nichts Kleineres, sondern Größeres wollen: Vielleicht schaut der Götter Auge zu uns hernieder und sagt: Ja, so sei es.
Eighteenth Lecture
[ 1 ] My dear friends! We have considered the Apocalypse in its inner spirit and we have considered it in relation to your priestly work, and it goes without saying that there is still much to be said in connection with the Apocalypse, that the entire composition of the Apocalypse could be unfolded. But it seems to me that this event in Dornach can best achieve its purpose if what has been said here in connection with the Apocalypse is actually put into practice in the priestly ministry.
[ 2 ] We still have one more thing to follow up on today. We must remember that we are living in the age of the consciousness soul, that stage of human evolution in which human beings must, so to speak, take intellectuality into their own hands and integrate it into their own individuality. Of course, this age is now, so to speak, the first in which things concerning the acquisition of intellectuality take place within human thinking and reasoning, still limited to the human mind. An age will come in which the deeper forces of the human soul will also be seized by what is now taking place more within thinking, reasoning, and thinking.
[ 3 ] At present, human beings are still able to form ideas about how to make use of the intellectuality that is breaking into their own individuality. But this period of consciousness soul development will not pass without the souls themselves being seized in their deepest emotions, in their feelings, in their passions by intellectuality, and then that which was still sought in the Middle Ages in the stars, when people spoke of angelic intelligences in the stars, will dwell even more deeply and thoroughly in human beings. All this will be unloaded into human beings. And when the Jupiter period comes later, human physicality will also be seized by intellectuality. At present, therefore, it is still possible — because things are still such that human beings can grasp in thought and words what is at stake, because the soul is not yet seized by intellectuality in its innermost structure — at present, therefore, it is still possible, especially in the work of priests, to orient this work in such a way that the purposes of the world, the goals of the world, can really be achieved.
[ 4 ] For you see, the situation is that when human beings draw intellectuality to themselves from the universe — and this is ultimately contained in the wisdom of the universe that they draw it to themselves — when human beings give the opportunity, in unguarded moments, which are always there, to let this intellectuality be seized by that Ahrimanic power which in the Christian tradition is called Satan and which must not be confused with the ordinary devil, who does not have the characteristics of Satan, but is a lower power. Satan has the rank of primordial forces, of archai, and he is the one who, in the course of world evolution, seized this intellectuality long before it approached human beings in the way described. He is currently, so to speak, the most comprehensive possessor of intellectuality, and he strives to bind human intellectuality so strongly to his own that human beings can fall out of their evolution in this way. This Ahrimanic power strives to render the mystery of Golgotha ineffective.
[ 5 ] Now, this Ahrimanic power, which in the Christian tradition is called Satan, has no power to work further up in the various world levels than to human beings. So one cannot imagine, for example, that the intelligence of an angel could be directly seized by this satanic power. This can only happen in certain exceptional cases. And the knowledge of this possibility, that in the future there could be moments when it might be possible for the satanic power not only to bind human beings to itself through intellectuality, but also to bind beings from the realm of the Angeloi, namely the Archangeloi, is currently still one of the higher mysteries of occultism, which cannot be discussed for the time being and can only be revealed under certain conditions. So we can only hint that in the future, seduction and temptation of beings from the hierarchy of the Angeloi and especially the Archangeloi could be possible. Today, we must first reckon with the fact that the power called Satan in the Christian tradition has the gift of attaching itself, so to speak, to that which appears within the human being with such independence as intellectuality; and then, when the intellectuality contained within the human being is seized by the Ahrimanic power, the human being can be torn out of their evolution and thrown onto a completely different path, simply because their being is dragged along by their intellect, to which Satan is able to attach himself. This would not be possible with any other soul or spiritual power, with any other physical power in human beings, except with the intellect, for the intellect is situated in human beings in such a way that it represents the most independent thing in them; everything else is connected with certain divine powers. Therefore, when Satan approaches, for example, the feelings, sensations, desires, and wishes of human beings, he still has to deal with the superhuman powers inherent in these soul abilities. Intellectuality is the first thing with which human beings can completely detach themselves from the beings that bring about their personal evolution; it is the first thing where human beings must connect, through their own free power, with those powers that have been with them from the beginning of their development.
[ 6 ] Thus, human beings must learn to understand that they must voluntarily identify with the ultimate goals of the Apocalypse, where the apocalyptic writer clearly indicates that there will appear the power that represents the alpha and omega of the continuous creative forces, the continuous creative being of evolution, and that man must, of his own accord, join that being which guided him while he was not yet cosmos-mature.
[ 7 ] Satan can, however, use this great moment in human evolution to draw people over into his own realm with their intellect. We can already see how the satanic power is trying to bring people into its evolution in this way. The way to do this is to bring people together in associations such as those we see emerging everywhere today, where the old group souls are coming to an end and a new group soul consciousness can begin. That is why what is happening in Eastern Europe at present, for example, is so terribly satanic, because everything there is aimed at bringing people together with all possible force in such a way that group souls become necessary. When the most intelligent are then taken over into the lower realm of Ahriman, the groups that are formed there can only be assigned to Ahrimanic powers; and then that would be the way for the satanic powers to tear humanity out of the Earth's evolution and bring it into another planetary evolution. Group soulhood can only succeed if the intellectual element is completely emancipated in a certain way. The most sophisticated approaches to this are being made in the East today. And you should understand this precisely for the work of the priesthood, because these approaches are most prominent there in the East; but they also occur everywhere in Central and Western Europe.
[ 8 ] For example, something must be discussed that appears more or less harmless, but which must nevertheless be viewed with very bitter seriousness in exoteric life, namely the introduction of psychology, the study of the soul, into experimental observation. This is one of the paths that lead to the soul no longer working from person to person in the sense of the old divine powers, but instead being determined by emancipated intellectuality, by external numbers or other external means. These things are still harmless in Central Europe. But you should bear in mind that in the West — notably in William James, but also with others — a statistical approach has emerged, that is, an intellectualistic approach emancipated from the life of the soul, even for the inner conversion of the human being, for what one might call the inner religious self-discovery that occurs in many people today at a certain moment, around the age of twenty. Around the age of twenty, many people today experience a moment of inner conversion, arising purely from within; they are seized by something that is like a stirring of the divine from their own soul. In America, statistics are kept on what percentage of the population undergoes such inner conversions. The matter is treated statistically. What is satanic about this is precisely the statistical treatment, the compilation of these things by the emancipated intellect. These conversions are nothing more than karmic outplayings, and therefore they must be considered individually in each case.
[ 9 ] You see, today the statistical method is extolled everywhere in the field of natural science. Anyone who follows the course of today's natural science will find tremendous praise for the statistical method everywhere. People can no longer access their inner selves and are looking everywhere to derive laws from statistics. This is most difficult to combat in the field of medicine, where it has become established in the most terrible way, where all clinical methods are based on simply recording in statistics whether remedies have had a positive or negative effect, and so on. This statistical element has become entrenched, and it is completely worthless, because it basically says nothing about whether one knows how many cases turn out one way or another. Instead, it must always be a matter of thoroughly understanding the individual case, regardless of how it turns out. Only when all methods of knowledge have returned to studying the individual case in its individual form can the entire statistics — which, as you know, have played a huge role in social considerations in social democracy — be accepted only to the extent that they can be introduced, I would say, after everything else has been considered individually; then one can say that in so many cases the outcome was favorable or unfavorable.
[ 10 ] Similarly, the statistical approach has caused tremendous nonsense in the form of suicide statistics or statistics on insanity. One determines what percentage of people in certain professions end up committing suicide or going mad. Knowing this has no value for real insight. For the essential thing is how the individual comes to commit suicide, how the individual goes mad.
[ 11 ] And so it is with this statistical approach, which plays a major role everywhere today where natural scientists write about epistemology; with this statistical approach, it is really as if Satan were on the loose. It is quite terrible. You see, this approach, which has shown the workings of satanic power in Central Europe and the East, has become philosophy with Avenarius and Mach, with whom the leading Bolshevik philosophers studied and who practically brought the matter to Russia. Even on the part of those who want to see the progressive evolution of humanity in a good-natured way, one usually sees these things today in such a way — well, they proceed in this way, but one does not care — that the seeds of Bolshevism were sown in Central Europe decades ago and were only carried over to Russia. It is like taking a seed and carrying it away, so that it can sprout somewhere else.
[ 12 ] Thus, that satanic power is already at work everywhere today and turns everywhere to appeal to the emancipated intellect, which somehow views things without any inner connection to the matter at hand, such as in matters of the soul, the spirit, inner conversions, and so on. If Satan were to succeed in bringing things to the point he wants by a certain time, then what must come would unfold in a way that would be detrimental to the evolution of humanity. For you see, the events of which the apocalypticist speaks are coming. It is merely a question of how they will unfold. And in the events of the future, there are actually still two possibilities everywhere: one is the possible course in the sense of the evolution of humanity as conceived by the gods, the other possibility — in contrast.
[ 13 ] Now, intellectuality is breaking in, people are becoming more and more intelligent, not through inspiration, but through their own power. That is breaking in. But on the other hand, influences coming from the Luciferic side have kept humanity weak. And so there will be group formations, even in the age of individuality, the actual Christian age, which is beneficial for humanity. There will be group formations, but these group formations must be lifted out of the danger they are in.
[ 14 ] And so the time will come when, in fact, the satanic power, through the efforts it has developed to win over the intellectual forces of humanity, will be so great that it will approach all the groups that have formed; so that it will truly come to pass that Satan's power will work in the four corners of the world. And these groups, smaller groups: Gog, or larger groups: Magog, will be exposed to the temptation, the seduction of Satan's power. And whether those who have taken spirituality into their own hands will then develop such intensity that human intellectuality, with the help of the Michael force, can be led to where it belongs — to the original powers that were there at the beginning of human development and that want to continue what humans have become so far with human freedom — that is what will then be decided. An enormous amount will depend on whether people will come to thoroughly understand real spirituality, real spirituality with an inner order.
[ 15 ] This whole matter of humanity must be considered today in priestly work, because only if we succeed in steering everything in the right direction will the great scene of seduction that Satan intends with Gog and Magog turn out in such a way that it is beneficial for human development.
[ 16 ] Otherwise, nothing else can happen but that one day in the future everything that human beings have experienced since about the 7th century of post-Christian development, since the year 666, everything they have experienced under the influence of developed individuality, will be torn out of humanity. Darkness would be spread over all previous incarnations of humanity, and a new world evolution would take the place of the earthly one. We can already see the beginnings of this today, and we can also see the great danger that already exists for humanity today. All human weaknesses are being exploited for this purpose — because the Ahrimanic powers possess the greatest intellectual capacity imaginable — all human weaknesses, especially vanity and untruthfulness, are being exploited to win people over. What was at work at the beginning of the world war is actually something terrible. It is terrible how human vanity has been used by the satanic powers to bring about, after a period of tremendous slumber, a turmoil in just a few days [1914] that threw people into a terrible frenzy, so that even today they are still unclear about what actually happened at that time.
[ 17 ] But that is only one phase. The even worse phases are currently playing out within purely intellectual, so-called spiritual struggles of the present. For where is truth to be found? Everywhere we see how things are being introduced in such a way that the truth of action is less and less taken into consideration for people. Just think of how more and more efforts are being made to bring spiritual life into the channels of the state. How much of spiritual life is there in the channels of the state! All these things expose humanity to great danger, but people are not inclined to develop real understanding in this direction. You could see this when the threefold movement was to make its first advance, so to speak, against the seduction of Gog and Magog, in order to guide what is to come in the future into such channels that further development could then proceed in a direction favorable to humanity. But the way in which the threefold idea was received, which should actually have led humanity over this threshold of development, shows just how enormous the dangers are for humanity in relation to these things. That is why it is necessary above all that the clergy also take these things completely seriously.
[ 18 ] You see, there was once such an individuality — that was in the first centuries of Christian development, so that it was present in the year 666 — who, with a certain clairvoyant power, saw what was actually happening and what it meant that the satanic power was already preparing for such a mission at that time. This individuality, who lived at that time in Rome, where the actual ecclesiastical struggle was taking place, and who then prepared Christianity in Europe, recognized this clearly at that time. Later, like so many others, it confused this satanic power — which, as I told you, even Michael recognizes in its higher position — with the devil of the Middle Ages and spoke of the devil, but it spoke of the devil in such a way that one can really see that it meant the satanic power. In Berlin, this individuality was reincarnated in the first half of the 19th century. His name was Trahndorff, an ordinary high school teacher. Yes, he advocated the existence of the devil, that is, actually Satan. He wrote a paper entitled “Is the Devil a figment of the imagination?”, but not only that, he also wrote an aesthetic treatise. Take a look at this aesthetic. It is impossible to refer to Trahndorff among theologians because he has been ignored; the consistorial councils and senior consistorial councils in Berlin were his enemies.
[ 19 ] These things all boil down to the question: Will the priesthood be able to represent the spiritual world in its full reality, not just in the sentimental way that has become commonplace in recent centuries, where, as soon as the spirit is involved, people do not want to bring in the evil power at all? So that is what it is all about, whether the energy is there to truly represent spirituality. After all, my dear friends, that is really the main thing among us. It is the main thing that such things as knowledge of karma, honest looking at previous earth lives, require the same state of mind as watching the celebration of transubstantiation during the human consecration ceremony. These ideas must once again become real within humanity. Only when they become real will there be a possibility, my dear friends, to present everything that was so dear to the apocalypticist as a perspective for humanity and to set everything on the right course. One might say that the very things that have been discussed here in connection with the Apocalypse are truths that should not be received without connecting the whole human being with them, that should not be received without considering them as a kind of communion.
[ 20 ] So that one really wants to say: a true Ecclesia encompasses the faithful in its outer reality, and the priesthood must see itself as the entity within the Ecclesia through whose work the spiritual flows into humanity. This requires, with proper understanding, the small sacrament chapel with the Blessed Sacrament, the Blessed Sacrament, which contains the mystery of transubstantiation. Let us imagine that we have the chalice within which transubstantiation takes place. Through transubstantiation, people seek the way to the Father, to that primordial creative power that exists in all reality, which therefore cannot be found if one seeks only the spiritual or only the material, but which is found when one directly discovers the unity of the spiritual with the material. Today, a true understanding of the world is only possible when transubstantiation is performed on the altar. There, the sacred act takes place, in which the Father is sought and the Son shows people the way to the Father, the Son who now mediates the way to the Spirit.
[ 21 ] And so, by looking at what is represented everywhere in the physical world, human beings can find in transubstantiation the completely hidden spiritual in the physical, the working of the seraphim, the cherubim, the thrones, whose hidden working appears as physical substance. If one wants to have it as spiritual, one must follow the path to the Father. The path to the Father is shown by the Son, who then leads to the spiritual appearing from the physical.
[ 22 ] Bread—if we start from this alone, for it can also be shown for wine—bread is bread, but the Father can be sought in it. Christ shows the way; bread surrounds itself with an aura through transubstantiation; man experiences the spirit in the aura. It is so that the wine only reinforces what is in the bread.
[ 23 ] And so it can be said: the longing for the Father lives in the sensory view, where seraphim, cherubim, and thrones are hidden. Christ leads man on the path so that Kyriotetes, Dynameis, Exusiai become effective before him in the manner indicated yesterday, and he ascends into the realm where today he can only contemplate the spiritual world in its spirituality, but where the Holy Spirit is in the midst: Angeloi, Archangeloi, Archai.
[ 24 ] And that, my dear friends, is what is written in the Apocalypse. To understand this and to conclude from it that it is understood today — what does that mean? It means that those who understand it find their own understanding foreshadowed in the Apocalypse. Therefore, it may be said: It depends only on you, my dear friends, whether you want the Apocalypse to speak of you or not. For if you take up the impulses of the Apocalypse in your priestly work in a truly spiritual sense, then you are the ones of whom the Apocalypse speaks, who will come and reject the power of the Beast, the false prophet, Satan. And then, at least in spirit, you will always be where the chalice for transubstantiation stands, and under this chalice you will think of the apocalyptic book. And by thinking to yourselves: The chalice stands on the apocalyptic book, you will be able to say to yourselves: My calling is written there, and what we do about it is the fulfillment of my calling.
[ 25 ] And so, my dear friends, I did not want to give a theoretical discussion of this conference, but rather, after the justified desire arose in you to hear something about the Apocalypse, I wanted to give you what I have given you and thus place the Apocalypse in your spirit beneath the chalice. That is where I wanted to lead this reflection. You will succeed in achieving what is possible under all circumstances, my dear friends, if you stretch the ideals of your work as far as you can, especially when you make the serious reflections of the Apocalypse the innermost impulse of your own work.
[ 26 ] That is what I wanted to present to you as the conclusion of these reflections, my dear friends. You can imagine that the most intense thoughts will accompany everything you will now do in response to these reflections, thoughts that are intense, penetrating, and worthy of the great task.
Friedrich Rittelmeyer expresses his thanks. [Rittelmeyer's words were not recorded.]
[ 27 ] Rudolf Steiner: If we understand what is expressed in these words, which are not an outward but an inward vow of the heart, and if we understand how to place it in the light of rightly understood grace, then what is to happen will happen. For what is at stake is that the paths of the gods and humans come together in the present. Michael will be the great mediator between the paths of the gods and the paths of humans. Let us look at his work! Let us learn from his past work what is to happen in the future! Then we will be able to look to the future not only with good will, but with courageous enthusiasm, and we will see ourselves increasingly united in our will with the divine will that has guided human beings from the beginning, and then we will feel our freedom connected with the freedom of the gods. This is what we must feel. And then, every day, when we have completed our daily work, we will be able to say to ourselves, desiring nothing less but something greater for the following day: Perhaps the eye of the gods looks down upon us and says: Yes, so be it.