# The History of the Esoteric School 1904–1914, Volume Two

## GA 265

### Assorted Note Fragments

*Handwritten note by Rudolf Steiner  
Note sheet archive number 6974*

Where do you come from?

From the lodge of St. John.

What happens in the lodge of St. John?

A temple of virtue is built there and prisons for vices are dug there.

What do you bring from there?

Welfare, progress, and goodwill for all mankind.

What do you intend to do here?

To conquer my passions, subjugate my will and make new progress.

Take your place, my B., and be welcome in this place, where the rays of your light are consciously received.

*Individual texts by Rudolf Steiner in the handwriting of Marie Steiner-von Sivers*

Wisdom should have guided you while you were building this temple, which is an earthly image of the spiritual life stream. This wisdom is now a water of light to guide you, as your soul unfolds the seeds of wisdom.

Beauty should adorn your work while you were building this temple, which is an image of self-limiting form-creating: this beauty is now a releasing salt for you, as your soul dissolves the covers of your spirit seed.

Strength should have carried out your work as long as you were building this temple, which is an image of the creative powers of existence: the fire of creation, to which the ashes of your body will return, is this strength in the future, as your spirit unites with the world spirits to create the great temple of being.

Brothers of the past, your wisdom penetrated the waters of the elemental kingdom and gave our sister an earthly shell so that she could reveal in the world what her soul had accepted under your wise guidance in prehistoric times.

Brothers of the present, our sister sought to come into your wise guidance so that your thoughts of God might be revealed in her part.

Brothers of the future, you will incorporate our sister's soul into your plan of construction, so that she may continue to flow in your strength, in the body of your great soul.

And you, sister, who have joined us in our striving for the vision of the heights of eternal light, your powers that flow into another form of being, let them flow into our work, work with us in the sanctuary of spiritual life: but we are inseparable in our souls from yours.

One, united, unity.

Prepared by silence, it is spoken with the mantle of that which has been received from above.

To make himself the bearer of wisdom, the$* [Rosicrucian] Mason vows to his God in the soul of his spirit. He beholds a temple of this God in the human form of his being. He vows to make himself the builder of this temple. He will think nothing that might be shameful to wisdom. The watchword floats before his eyes:

My thoughts shall seek thee everywhere, divine spirit.

The Mason [Rosicrucian] will make himself the servant of Beauty; he pledges himself to Beauty, because only in her bosom can the life of God flourish in his soul. The Mason [Rosicrucian] avoids an appearance that contradicts reality; he seeks true embodiment in the appearance of reality. His breathing in his breathing the watchword:

My speech shall reveal you, divine soul.

The + [Rosicrucian] Mason wants to make fortitude his covering; he praises fortitude because only through its fire can the God in his heart mature. The Mason seeks to flee from languor, which only hinders all progress; he seeks fortitude, which, with a sharp, two-edged sword of fire, prepares the way for all advancement. The watchword beats in his heart:

My heartbeat shall confirm you, divine will.

I

The earth's soil bears me;  
The earth's air envelops me;  
Around me I see the rocks of the mountains;  
Around me the plant cover of the earth blossoms;  
In the animal kingdom there is feeling,  
Which, as in a thousand individual forms,  
my own being's abundance.  
I feel the power to shape myself ever higher,  
only this noble striving makes a human being.

II

He is born of the earth's soil.  
He is animated by the earth's air.  
He is related to the rocks of the mountains,  
His existence is interwoven with the plant cover,  
The realm of the animals carries his spirit power;  
But as if in a harmonious miracle  
Earth, rocks, life are joined in him.  
The earth's soil will sink beneath him.  
The circle of the air will be the bearer of death.  
The mountains' rocks will fall,  
The plants will wither,  
The animals' life will be stunned.  
But he will bear the fruit of being earth  
To create new worlds in a distant time.  
To feel this goal's eternal value  
Creates wisdom in every thought,  
Receive beauty in every breath of life,  
Strengthen fortitude in every beat of the blood.

We, wise M.d.O. [Masters of the East], present ourselves before you in spirit with purified desire, that the center of the heart may be silent in the expression of the outer self and burn with the fire of a new inner self. Let the fundamental fires germinate in us, melting and uniting the elements of the temple, which shall be a worthy dwelling for your divine being.[^1]

The old temple will give birth to the new.

The three may create a new chariot from our signs.

The three may make Audhumla fertile.[^2]

The following spoke, sitting amidst the stars of wisdom:

The time will come when man's intelligence and sensuality will become desolate and formless. And the power of the flesh will be barren and the daughter of the brain will be lame. And what has been founded among men by thinking and feeling will dry up like the sea dries up in scorching heat. But the revelation of the stars of wisdom will flourish. Mine is what you have kept as silver, what you have kept as gold – so says He who sits in the midst of the stars of wisdom.

The revelation of the new temple will shine forth more brightly than the first, and the I will have found itself in the I.

The initiate at the gates: M.M. Remember that you must find your way in fields where you have never been:

West = Ahriman: He wants to be you.  
South = Lucifer: He wants to be you.  
East = gold. A

Hand over your sources

1. 3. 7. 12.

Water

In nomine Elohim et per spiritum aquarum viventium, sis mihi in signum lucis et sacramentum voluntaris.

Smoke

Per serpentum aneum sub quo cadunt serpentes ignei, sis mihi.

Hauch

Per firmamentum et spiritum vocis, sis mihi.

Erde

In sale terrae et per virtutem vitae aeternae, sis mihi.

Sylphs

Spirit of light, spirit of wisdom, whose breath determines the form of all things – reach through to us.

Undines

King of the sea, who holds the keys of heaven, we call upon you – –

Salamander

Immortal, eternal, uncreated father of the world

Invisible king, lead us to clarity.

*Handwritten note by Rudolf Steiner  
from notebook Archive number 611*

Green the Earth Mother rises  
With the bright colors of flowers  
The spirit of the sun will cover up  
What springs from the soil in a living way.

Dress is what springs from the earth  
Coat is what the spirit of the sun creates  
It holds the soul within it alive  
The soul is permeated by the spirit with power.

Spirit you become sisters, you brothers  
Look only when you hear,  
What to tell your being innermost  
Has the word of the wise of the East.

Take the word of the spirit.  
Those who have served him from the beginning  
will send you their strength  
through the wisdom, the beauty and strength.

---

[^1]: “Chariot” may refer to Ezekiel's vision of the divine throne chariot, “Merkabah”, with which a special secret doctrine was associated in Jewish mysticism.

[^2]: Audhumla = in Norse mythology, the cow that arose from the primeval ocean; see lecture Berlin, October 7, 1907.