When one inwardly pursues the course of spiritual life down to Michael's workings at the present day, it becomes possible to obtain a light from Spiritual Science upon Freedom in its cosmic character.
This does not apply to my ‘Philosophy of Freedom,’ which is something that proceeds from the purely human powers of cognition themselves, if once they can enter upon the field of the spirit. To arrive at the knowledge there arrived at, requires, so far, no intercourse with beings of other worlds. But the ‘Philosophy of Freedom’ makes — one may say — a good preparation for that other knowledge about freedom which may afterwards be learnt in spiritual intercourse with Michael. And this is as follows.
If freedom is really to have life in human actions, that which is performed in freedom's light must be in no way dependent upon the human physical and etheric organization. A ‘free’ performance can proceed from the I alone, and the astral body must also be able to vibrate along with the free action of the I, so as to transmit it to the physical and ether-bodies. This however is only one side of the matter. The other side is the one that becomes clear in connection with Michael's mission. Namely, whatever a man realizes in freedom in his inward life, must again have no sort of action upon his etheric nor physical body. Were it to do so, the man would inevitably be brought completely out of line with all that he has come to be during the different stages of his evolution under the influence of divine-spiritual Being and divine-spiritual Revelation.
What Man brings to realization in his inward life from all that is the wrought work only of divine spirit round about him, must exert no influence of any but his spiritual part — his I. The only thing that may influence his physical and etheric organism, is what comes through the evolutionary stream, not in his surroundings, but in his own being itself, as the continuation of what had its first beginnings in the being and revelation of divine spirit. But this element in the human being must on no account become involved in its workings with what lives in the element of freedom.
What alone makes this possible, is that Michael carries over from a very remote past in evolution, something which gives Man a link with that divine-spiritual reality which no longer intervenes, in the present day, in the physical and etheric structures. So that by this means, there grows up in the Michael Mission the basis for an intercourse between Man and the spiritual world, which does not interfere in the workings of Nature.
It is elevating to watch how, through Michael, Man's being becomes lifted ever higher into the spiritual sphere; whilst what is going on below, unconscious and subconscious, beneath the sphere of freedom, becomes ever more deeply wedded to the world of matter.
Man will find his relation to world-being growing ever more incomprehensible as time goes on, unless he will consent to recognize his relation, not merely with natural beings and natural processes, but also with things of another kind, such as the Michael Mission. One's relations to the natural world are something that one learns to know as viewed from outside. Relations with the spiritual world proceed from something like an inner conversation with a reality of being, to which one has opened access by one's readiness to view the world in a spiritual aspect.
For Man, therefore, to carry the impulses of freedom into actual life, he must be in a position to hold aloof from his own being certain affectations of nature that act upon his being from out of the Cosmos, and to keep them from affecting it. This ‘holding aloof’ goes on then in the subconscious, whilst in the consciousness those other forces are at work, which represent the life of the I in freedom.
For the man's inward perception, there is this consciousness of creative freedom. For the spiritual beings connected with Man from other world-spheres it is different. The being from the hierarchy of the Angeloi, whose work it is to conduct the man's identity from one earth-life to another, becomes at once visibly aware that man is repelling cosmic forces which are seeking to continue his development — forces which are seeking to give the necessary physical support to his I-system, as they did previous to the age of Michael.
Michael, as a being from the hierarchy of the Archangeloi, receives his impressions by aid of the beings from the Angeloi-Hierarchy. He devotes himself to the task of conveying to Man from the spiritual part of the Cosmos, in the manner described, forces which can replace the suppressed forces of his natural existence.
This he accomplishes by bringing all he does into most perfect unison with the Mystery of Golgotha.
The workings of the Christ in earthly evolution contain the forces which Man needs when he works in freedom, in order to make good the suppressed impulses of Nature. Only, Man must then actually bring his soul into that inner intercourse of life with the Christ, already spoken of in these descriptions of the Michael Mission.
Man is conscious of being in the midst of a reality, when he stands in the face of the physical Sun, and it gives him warmth and light.
Even so he must live before the face of the Spiritual Sun, the Christ, who has united His life with the life of Earth; and from this Spiritual Sun he must receive, alive within his soul, what in the spiritual world corresponds to warmth and light.
He will feel himself filled through and through with ‘spiritual warmth,’ when he realizes the life of the ‘Christ within him.’ And feeling how this warmth flows through him, he will say: This warmth dissolves my human being from bonds with the Cosmos which must not hold it. The divine-spiritual Being of yore led me to regions where it needs must leave me, in order that I might achieve my freedom. But in these regions it has given to me the Christ, that from His forces I may receive as a free man, what the divine-spiritual Being of yore once gave to me by way of Nature — which, in those days, was also the way of the Spirit. To the divine source whence I came, this warmth leads me back once more.
And as this feeling rises in him, Man's sense of his life in and with the Christ will become one in inner soul-warmth with his sense of real, true manhood. ‘Christ gives me my human being,’ — this will be a dominant feeling, breathing, pulsing through all the soul. And if this feeling be once there, there will come too that other feeling, where Man feels himself by Christ lifted up above the life of earth, and feels himself one with the stars that environ the earth and with all that may be read in this starry environment of the spiritual and divine.
So too will it be with the spiritual light. Man can have the full feeling of himself in his own being as a man, when he wakens to the consciousness of himself as a man, when he wakens to the consciousness of himself as a free individual. Nevertheless this is accompanied with a certain darkness. The Divine and spiritual of ancient days no longer shines. In the light which Christ brings to the I of Man, the ancient, primal light is there once more. In such a life in community with Christ, the thought may arise, shedding bliss and brightness like the sun through the whole soul: The divine light of old is there, in all its pristine glory; it shines, though not with the light of Nature. And Man unites himself in the present with the spiritual cosmic Light-Powers of the past, that shone in the times before he was a free individual. In this light he can find the paths which will lead him aright as human being, if he understandingly unites himself in soul with the Michael Mission.
In the spirit's warmth Man will feel the impulse that can carry him on in such a way into his cosmic future, that he can there remain true to the gifts given him by the divine spirit-beings at his origin — notwithstanding that he has since developed in their worlds to a free individuality. And in the spirit's light he will find the power which will lead him, with open eyes and ever higher and broader consciousness, to that world where he shall find himself again as free Man in the company of the Gods of his first origin.
To want to remain in the first, original state of existence — to want to keep the original naïve simplicity of divine goodness, of the time when the gods ruled in Man, and to shrink from making use of his freedom, — this leads Man in the present-day world, where everything is disposed for the evolution of his freedom, only in the end leads to Lucifer, whose aim it is to see the present world repudiated.
To give himself over to the present state of existence; to admit through all the worlds nothing save the rule of that natural law, accessible to the present-day intellect, to which goodness is a neutral matter; to want to enjoy the use of freedom in the intellect alone; this, in the present-day world — where, while freedom reigns in the upper regions, evolution must be carried further in the deeper regions of the soul — only leads Man in the end to Ahriman, whose aim it is to see the present world transformed entirely into a Cosmos of Intellectual Being.
In regions such as this, where Man is able to feel that when he turns his eyes upon the outer world they fall spiritually upon Michael, and when he turns them to the inner world of the soul they fall spiritually upon Christ, here he will gather such security of soul and spirit, as shall enable him to travel along that cosmic road, on which without the loss of his first origin he shall find the true and right consummation of his future.
Leading Thoughts
A free action can only be one in which no process of Nature, in or outside of Man, plays a part.
The polaric counter-proposition in this: In all free action of human individuality, a process of Nature in man is suppressed, which in an unfree action would be there and would give the man's being the formation cosmically predestined for it.
This formation of his being, which a man fails to receive by the natural road if in his life and being he follows the course of cosmic evolution through its present and future stages, comes to him by a spiritual road through the union with Michael, whereby he also finds the way to Christ.
-Rudolf Steiner
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Here is the part we should like to talk about:
"Do you see yonder large tree?" said the witch, pointing to a tree that stood close by the wayside. "It is quite hollow. Climb up to the top, and you will find a hole large enough for you to creep through, and thus you will get down into the tree. I will tie a rope round your waist, so that I can pull you up again when you call me."
"But what am I to do down in the tree?" asked the soldier.
"What are you to do?" repeated the witch; "why, fetch money, to be sure! As soon as you get to the bottom, you will find yourself in a wide passage; it is quite light, more than a hundred lamps are burning there. Then you will see three doors; you can open them, the keys are in the locks. On opening the first door you will enter a room. In the middle of it, on the floor, lies a large chest. A dog is seated on it, his eyes are as large as tea-cups; but never you mind, don't trouble yourself about him! I will lend you my blue apron; you must spread it out on the floor, then go briskly up to the dog, seize him, and set him down on it. When that is done, you can open the chest, and take as much money out of it as you please. That chest contains none but copper coins. If you like silver better, you have only to go into the next room; there you will find a dog with eyes as large as mill-wheels. Don't be afraid of him; you have only to set him down on my apron, and then rifle the chest at your leisure. But if you would rather have gold than either silver or copper, that is to be had too, and as much of it as you can carry, if you pass on into the third chamber. The dog that sits on this third money chest has eyes as large as the Round Tower. But don't be alarmed; if you set him down on my apron, he will do you no harm, and you can take as much golden treasure from the chest as you like.
"Not a bad plan that, upon my word!" said the soldier. "But how much of the money am I to give you, old woman?"
"Not a penny will I have," returned the witch. "The only thing I want you to bring me is an old tinder-box which my grandmother left there by mistake last time she was down in the tree."
"Well, then, give me the rope and I'll be gone," said the soldier.
"Here it is," said the witch, "and here is my blue apron."
So the soldier climbed the tree, let himself down through the hole in the trunk, and suddenly found himself in the wide passage, lighted up by many hundred lamps, as the witch had described.
And so, in the hollow of a deceased tree the soldier ventures down - down into a realm which is lit by many hundreds of lamps. Do you recall in previous lessons how it has been discussed that this journey inward may often be confused with a journey outward into the Cosmos at large?
The word 'lamps' is actually far more accurate than to say 'stars', because even though one might very much confuse the lamps for stars in a starry space, they are not. This is what one is first met with however, venturing into the realms within. They signify also the starry points of conjuncture within one's own astral body that are 'alight' with activity.
The witch in this story personifies the corrupted condition which is taking the soldier into these depths he is about to encounter. He is secured to the upper world by a "rope tied to the waist"” - his astral chord intact - and he ventures into the realm of death.
The first dog is sitting, guarding the chest of copper pieces. What may appear contrary to some, is that there is a correspondence between Venus and the etheric world. The goodness in the etheric world is supremely affectionate - the principles of propagation and of life, are verily of Love actively manifesting continually, and the forces which have imbibed it in the past are of this domain.
The second dog is sitting guarding the chest which holds the pieces of silver. This connects us with the Moon and the realm of the astrality - the second sphere encountered on our journey in.
The third dog is sitting guarding the chest with the disks of gold … the metal of the Sun - this denotes the final treasure to be uncovered - hoarded and stored by the dog.
The dog is obedient to the protection of all three realms. He has no will in this matter, and when later placed upon the blue apron of the witch's own egoic willing, he does not resist, but dutifully sits where put, without cunning or reaction or offering a threat to the soldier.
He is a soldier of Christ that can move about these three chambers without interference or fear. Interestingly the witch herself could not go to these places as she might instruct another.
Of the first realm come to we find a dog whose eyes are smaller than the other two. His appearance by contrast would be gentle. This Venus condition here pertains to the singularity we first spoke of in the soulic consciousness as experienced in the world before the egoic condition predominated.
There is a divine cooperation here, and yet it is also quite an automatic cooperative … and when Paradise overwhelms men to become witless and will-less, it then becomes the realm of Lucifer. You can often find it difficult to find the differences between descriptions of the true paradisiacal state and Lucifer's paradise ad perpetua. However we can remember here that these inner realms now spoken of are the contrary adjuncts to the conditions which preceded them, that live on today in the current etheric and pure astral as it still is. Also, that the ancient Sun still imbibes the old etheric world, as it does the New.
Armies of dark spirits have long campaigned the lower realms of the Earth. Hell was ever depicted traditionally as 'below' the earth and not as part of the Heavens above.
The second sphere come to, that of the ancient Moon, is of the time in which the senses were awakened and the stars began to resonate in Man. Forces outside of himself entered in, compelling and sometimes dividing forces, sparring tensions, which now may be known as desires, and later to thoughts. The ancient Moon did not reflect back the Sun when it was not-so-old as to be living. For it was, in part, just as our Earth is now - the Sun itself, in the making.
This ancient Sun, the kernel to the Globe, is of the first ego but not of the ego today. It was the feminine ego, a womb of knowing; not adventurous, but receptive - a very different type of "I". Even today the form of the ego is as a containing womb and its action is retentive rather than advancing.
-B.Hive
on The Tinder Box by Hans Christian Andersen
According to the priest Rudolf Meyer the following statement was made by Rudolf Steiner long before his illness: “The Christmas Conference is not being taken up. There is still time. But if it is not taken up by the autumn, the Ahrimanic powers will launch their attack”.
The Stuttgart state attorney Dr. Bruno Kruger has testified that as early as June 1924 Rudolf Steiner said to him personally with firm insistence: “This impulse has failed. Come back to Dornach in October. Then everything will be arranged differently – including the situation in Stuttgart”.
A member who wishes to remain anonymous received from Rudolf Steiner, in response to a question about the Christmas Conference and its effects within the Society, the answer: the spiritual world allows nine months to see whether an echo comes from the members. If no echo comes, the impulses of the Christmas Conference have come to an end. When the nine months had passed, this member asked Rudolf Steiner about it again. He replied: “No echo has come. The Society has not taken up the Christmas Conference”.
The eurythmist Ina Schuurman testifies to having received personally from Rudolf Steiner the following statement, which she reports thus: “It was during a eurythmy dress rehearsal in the course of the Christmas Conference…. That Rudolf Steiner was walking past on his way from the auditorium, stopped in front of me and said: ‘Now let us hope that things can continue in this way for ten years’. In September 1924 there was again a dress rehearsal in Dornach…. When Rudolf Steiner came by and stopped in front of me. He said with great emphasis: ‘the Christmas Conference has failed’, and walked on into the auditorium.
There is also a communication said to have been received by Countess Keyserlingk after Rudolf Steiner’s death. Countess Keyserlingk had attained certain degrees in occult training. She writes as follows: “It was on the morning of Rudolf Steiner’s cremation, which I did not attend. The earthly body of the great Teacher was still laid out near to where I stood in the room of the carpentry shop, when close to me the aura of the beloved Teacher appeared.
"From this aura the instruction came that I should write. I took paper and pencil and from his presence came the following words – often I could not write quickly enough, then he stopped and waited until I had caught up with writing, as Rudolf Steiner had done on earlier occasions when he was dictating something to me: ‘My mission is ended. What I was able to give human beings at their present level of maturity, I have given them. I go away, because I found no ears able to hear the spirit-word behind the word. I go away, because I found no eyes able to behold the spirit-pictures behind the earthly pictures – I go away, because I found no human beings able to bring my will to realization. The Mysteries remain veiled or hidden until I come again. I will come again and unveil the Mysteries when I have succeeded in establishing in spirit-worlds an altar, a place of worship, for human souls. Then I will come again, then I will continue to reveal the Mysteries. Responsibility for my death is borne by those who have suppressed the culture of the heart. If human beings had gone through their hearts and penetrated into the depths they would have found the strength to fulfil the tasks of the present age’."
-Excerpts from General Renewal– or Illusion – of the Anthroposophical Society by Harald Giersch
A lecture held in Villingen–Schwenningen, Germany, on 19.01.2005
Giersch lecture
