The Constitution of the General Anthroposophical Society

GA 260a — 3 February 1924

Conditions for Admission to the First Class of the School of Spiritual Science

Following the lecture, Dr. Steiner spoke to those who had registered for the first class:

Today's gathering is, of course, not yet binding, but it will be a matter of all the friends who have stayed here first consulting with themselves to explore within themselves whether they really want to take on the duties of a member of the School of Spiritual Science. For what has often been said as the other condition for such an association of people as is meant here must be taken with complete seriousness from now on. In many circles, what is meant by this seriousness has not even really begun to be understood, I would say.

We have the General Anthroposophical Society, which imparts the knowledge of the spirit to the people of today. One can be a member of this society without taking on any obligations. So there is really no particular reason to go beyond the Anthroposophical Society without the will to take on real, serious obligations.

But we simply need a circle of people who can move from the exoteric to the esoteric. And you cannot do that without taking on obligations. For if there were no one to take on such obligations, then anthroposophy would simply not be able to exist. What I would like to establish as the first class is that the relationship between the leadership and the individual members must be conceived as a free contractual relationship, but as a free contractual relationship that one actually enters into. So that the leadership cannot at any moment feel bound to carry out what is to be done in the first class with a member if that member does not assume the reciprocal obligation.

So it really is a free contractual relationship. But we must also understand very seriously that this is a free contractual relationship. And only in this way will we be able to gradually enter into real esotericism. Above all, it is important that all members of the class really declare themselves willing to be representatives for the cultivation of anthroposophy in the world.

You see, the difference between what has come into being since Christmas and what existed before is that, basically, the Anthroposophical Society used to be a kind of administrative society that took up anthroposophy and was concerned with providing a framework for it. What is needed now is for the institution that originates here in Dornach and presents itself to the world to be regarded in a certain way as an esoteric matter. So that the Executive Council, which was formed at Christmas, is to be regarded by the members of the first class as a body that takes full responsibility for anthroposophy in the world, that everything anthroposophical concerns this Executive Council as such.

If you take this in its full depth, you will also understand that in the future, for the things that are supposed to constitute the life of anthroposophy, there must be no recurrence of what has already occurred here and there since Christmas. For example, one could hear people saying again: Oh, we're doing something for ourselves, we're not going to approach the Executive Council. Why should we bother with the Executive Council? — Yes, the members of the first class will then have to experience in the future that if anyone wants to do something anthroposophical without the Executive Council, then the Executive Council will also want to do its business without them.

This is, of course, something I would not say in the General Anthroposophical Society. But that is precisely what lies in the free contractual relationship that must exist between the members of the first class and the Executive Council. So if anyone wants to represent anthroposophy to the world in any matter they want to represent, without contacting the Executive Council, the Executive Council must also say on its part: then it too will want to shape its affairs without the person concerned.

Isn't that right, this is a special form. This form, which I am expressing in these words, can also be expressed in other ways. But it is only in this way that a truly unified life can be achieved in everything that concerns the school. In this way we will gradually gain the necessary seriousness for anthroposophy. And we will then be able to have a foundation of people who truly feel jointly responsible for what is to be achieved through anthroposophy. Above all, this will give us the opportunity to no longer have cliques among us. For what has done us tremendous harm is precisely the need for cliques, the emergence of cliques. We will also be able to avoid having any loners. If they really want to assert themselves, they will be able to do so in the Anthroposophical Society. But for those who belong to the classes, this will be impossible, because if they act in this way, they will no longer belong to the class.

These are the things that really need to be considered in all seriousness. So that precisely because we take things at least as seriously as they are taken here and there in the world – not for things similar to anthroposophy, but for many other things – this will also really happen here. Without this, the whole re-founding of society, as it was undertaken at Christmas, would actually make no sense at all. For it has been customary in many respects, even in that part of society that immediately surrounds Dornach, to say about certain things, well, they don't want to burden me, they don't want to ask me for all the details. People usually didn't ask me about the things they didn't like! But that is what led to a whole series of matters coming to me at a stage when they were already in progress, when they had to be resolved in a different way than they would have been if they had come to me from the beginning. What I mean by this is that everything concerning the content of anthroposophy must become a unified whole.

Certainly, there will be difficulties; the small number of board members who are here will be overburdened. But we want to let history unfold; we want to take it as it comes, as it arises from the situation itself. However, we do not want to fall into the trap of consulting the Executive Council on relatively unimportant matters, but then saying, when it comes to the most important matters, that we must proceed on our own — because we prefer it that way — and that we must not bother the Executive Council. Isn't it true that if you remain stuck in formalities, you can say: Yes, where is the freedom in that? Certainly, everyone can have their freedom by not having to participate. But the board must also have its freedom. It must also be free not to have to do what it cannot do under its responsibility.

If there is good will, people will understand the necessity of such things, and what I am saying now will first of all lead to a careful examination, a self-examination, of those gathered here, to see whether they are willing to take on the obligation, above all, to be in full agreement with the Executive Council from the outset on all matters relating to anthroposophy. Otherwise, it is necessary for the Executive Council to declare on its part that it does not recognize the matter as anthroposophical. Then, of course, it also declares that it will not cooperate with those who establish a separate anthroposophy somewhere else. The matters are really too serious, and we must take them seriously from now on.

What has been said about making our society public, namely about the fact that the cycles should be public. This is a fact that cannot be taken seriously enough! For, I would like to say, the evidence of how necessary such a measure is comes flying into one's hands. You see, this morning Dr. Unger brought me a new publication by Hans Leisegang: “Die Geheimwissenschaften” (The Secret Sciences), published in a collection: Perthes' Bildungsbücherei, Verlag von Friedrich Andreas Perthes AG, Gotha-Stuttgart; one of the most respected publishers there is.

Now you can know what Leisegang's denunciation actually means. It is being published today by one of the most respected publishing houses. So it is really a matter of being able to take such things seriously. The booklet is accompanied by a note. Under the aegis of Mr. von Leisegang, the following is taking place:

"A spiritual revolt against Rudolf Steiner's previously unknown cycles! Hans Leisegang, Die Geheimwissenschaften (The Secret Sciences). The book – an important new publication from Perthes Bildungsbücherei – provides an overview of the development and current state of research in the field of occultism, accompanied by extensive references for further study. The author makes a sharp distinction between scientific occultism, which does not work with the spirit hypothesis, and the occult knowledge of spiritualists, theosophists, and anthroposophists, which presents itself as secret science."

It goes without saying that, if it had not already happened, such an undertaking, which calls itself: “A spiritual revolt against Rudolf Steiner's previously unknown cycles,” the cycles would immediately have to be declared “public.” Now this has already happened in advance. For the opponents are also dealing with the latest cycles in a very thorough, tumultuous, and radical manner. No sooner has one appeared than the opponents have it and are talking about it. There is much more talk about the cycles among the opponents than among the anthroposophists. In contrast, any further secrecy surrounding the cycles is, of course, downright paradoxical, tantamount to surrendering to the opponents.

It is true that much has been said since the Christmas Conference about the cycles becoming public. But what has been missing in all this, in relation to the fact that something like this had to happen, is the seriousness with which such a thing must be taken. And I would like to say: a society of anthroposophical seriousness must be the first class of members.

Much of what the Christmas Conference has brought has not yet come to consciousness. Now we will see whether it is possible to establish this first class in all objectivity. Therefore, I would like to ask you once again — now only so that there is a coherent overview for those esteemed friends who initially want to participate in the school here in Dornach, I ask you once again — but only once to write your name on the sheets that I will distribute here and then bring them back to me here on the table. I will distribute the sheets after every two rows of chairs, and I ask you to write your names on them for every two rows of chairs. Please write only your names. Everything else I need is in the letters that have been written. If you have not already written in your letter how long you have been a member, please write this on the list as well.

Next Friday, I will announce the procedure for handing out membership cards to those who have been accepted. I will now have to deal with the applications, and we will then issue the membership cards in a way that will hopefully be more convenient for the individual than collecting the letters, which were not handed over to me in a uniform manner, but were pressed into my left or right hand wherever I happened to be encountered, handed to me on the left or right hand, without considering that it is then extremely difficult for someone who is very busy to keep all these things together. One person took their letter there, another took it there, but I hope that the matter can be handled in a more uniform manner.