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

GA 265

Notes for the “Walk through life”

Text according to Marie Steiner's original manuscript

This was the journey through life. You have been led symbolically along a path that you will know later in reality. We have taken the starting point from the point where you stood before you sought admission to this community. It is the present time in which you live. From there you have stepped back through long periods of time, through times and races in which your souls, which now dwell in your bodies, were embodied in other bodies of other times, other peoples. We now live within the present race. It was preceded by the Greco-Latin race, the Egyptian-Babylonian-Assyrian race, the ancient Persian race and the Indian race. In all these races your souls were embodied. And now you stand between two columns, the columns of Hercules. If you had once walked through them from east to west, you would have come to the ancient Atlantean land that was washed away by the great flood, which is preserved in the legends and myths of the various peoples as the Flood. Even then your souls were already embodied in Atlantean bodies. But they were in completely different living conditions, as the conditions on the earth around you were quite different from the later ones. Rain and sunshine were not distributed in the air as they were after the flood, but the air was still filled with dense, heavy masses of water mist. This had the effect that the life of the soul became quite different after the flood. Man understands the omniscience of nature around him when the air is permeated by water, by the waters of wisdom. Then the trickling of the spring, the rustling of the trees in the forest, the rushing of the water waves, the rolling of the thunder are not inarticulate sounds to him, but wisdom-filled expressions of the spirit that floods reality. Only when the water recedes from the air must man hear the laws and commandments of his actions, the rules of social interaction with others through the mediation of the human mouth. Commandments and laws did not exist until the post-Atlantean period. Everything that happens to you here has a deeply symbolic meaning. The fact that you have been led backwards means that you have now symbolically traveled the route backwards, which in reality your souls have traveled forwards through the races and times mentioned earlier. And you have been led blindfolded, because the greater part of humanity has passed through this time in darkness. But it has been led by the more developed individualities, by the wise masters of the East. The great principles that have reached your ears during this symbolic journey have shone before them as if in golden letters. The wise masters of the East have guided mankind according to these principles: Man walks his whole life in darkness, only knowledge can lead him to the light. Those who are driven to knowledge only by curiosity can never come to knowledge, for mere curiosity is not satisfied by knowledge. He who makes a distinction between man and man cannot attain knowledge, for he who wants to advance to true knowledge must not make a distinction between man and man. He who does not want to look his faults and errors in the eye in full self-knowledge cannot come to knowledge of the world, for only he who first enlightens himself about his faults and errors can come to knowledge of the spiritual.

The wise masters of the East have guided mankind, you, according to these golden sentences. You were closer to the Godhead at the starting point of the path than you are now, for man has descended from spiritual to material existence and you will have to ascend each of the steps you have descended; not in darkness, however, but in the light of occult knowledge. Everything that you encountered on your descent will have to be encountered again in reverse order when you ascend, but in bright light and clarity. Therefore, your ascent will have to take place under the influence of the principles you have heard from our wise masters of the East.

The journey through life now continues through the two columns of Hercules into the ancient Atlantean land.

You must now imagine that you are in the old Atlantean land, where your souls were embodied in the old Atlantean bodies. You have to imagine that you are surrounded on all sides by dense, heavy masses of water mist. This causes everything around you to speak an articulate language, like the human mouth later on. At that time your souls could understand the wisdom that spoke from the trickling of the springs, from the rushing of the water waves, from the whispering of the wind in the forest, and when your soul wanted to know in the morning what it had to do, it did not need to listen to a law or commandment from the mouth of man, but it listened to the language of the elements and heard the wise commandments. And when she wanted to know the great events of existence, the rolling of the thunder told her. Everything, everything spoke a clearly audible language. And when the soul became completely still within itself, when it diverted its attention from the trickling of the springs, the rushing of the water waves and the whispering of the wind in the forest, then the soul heard a basic or intermediate tone that resounded through everything, everything. She either heard it when she was quiet within herself or when she went out into solitude where nothing else could be heard. She could hear it everywhere in old Atlantis, in the north, south, east and west. And when she heard it, she felt that the great spirit was speaking to her, the great spirit that flowed through everything, the great spirit that reigned in the waters of wisdom. And so the soul heard the sound of the great spirit: Tao - and then the soul became silent and reverent and prayerfully returned the sound to the great spirit: Tao. So the soul spoke to the great spirit T T (louder) T T (quieter) and the soul not only felt this sound - it felt in deep wisdom all the showers of the world flowing through it.

Sitting in the chamber of reflection and in hell is symbolically called the earth test, because the soul in its present material existence should know itself to be firmly connected with the center of the earth. The following walk through the anhydrous air is a symbolic reminder of humanity's test in the air, and now you are symbolically reminded of humanity's great water test during the Atlantean period. All religions and worldviews that were built on occult wisdom have retained the memory of this great water test of humanity in the symbol of the water baptism or water test. And because man is to meet the same points again step by step on his ascent in bright light clarity, such confessions and worldviews symbolically perform the baptism of water when they are accepted into their community. For again man is to be led through the occult path to the point where he hears wisdom from the elements around him. This communion shall lead you to such oneness with the communion of the waters. Therefore I have to perform this symbolic water baptism on you as a sign of admission into our community. The journey through life goes even further back into the distant past, into those regions of the earth where your souls were embodied in bodies after they had just descended from the womb of the Godhead. At that time you were not yet surrounded by masses of water mist, but the earth in all its substances was still enveloped in warm, fiery vapors. Your first bodies consisted of the matter of the ancient land of fire, scarf marks. And you were surrounded by fiery vapors and masses of mist. At that time, when your soul had just descended from the bosom of the Godhead, it was not only intimately connected with the wisdom of the elements around it, but magically with the will of the elements. Its substance consisted of the same will of the Godhead from which the fiery elements around it had also emerged. And your will had a magical effect on these elements. If your will was gentle and your limbs at that time stroked over the masses of fire, then the elements calmed down. But when your will became wild, the elements raged in wild turmoil. And because the will of great masses of people became evil, it caused whole masses of land to rage and through the evil will of man himself, many a time they perished. Only some of the people saved themselves in the Atlantis. This was the great ordeal of mankind, which is now symbolically approaching you.

I baptize you with the water of wisdom as a sign of acceptance into our covenant.

(Lights)

The journey through life has come to an end.
(seated on chair)

You must make it clear to yourselves that you are to be led up again through the occult path to the bosom of the Godhead from which you have descended. This ascent is linked to certain conditions which man must fulfill. He must disregard everything that brings him forward in his striving in the outer world. Descent, blood relations, rank, titles and dignities, money and goods and possessions bring him forward. All this is worthless on the occult path. For everything that comes from lineage, blood relations, money, goods and possessions ends with this ... Eternal is only what you strive for through the powers of your own soul - your poor soul, as we say. Therefore, in the circle of your sisters and brothers, you must think of yourselves as naked and bare in the face of everything that serves external striving. You should be clothed only with the symbolic garment of the mason, whose deep meaning will be revealed to you later. The venerable sister will put the symbolic garment of the mason on those who are to be newly received.

Now the time has come when you will see for the first time in the circle of sisters and brothers. As a sign that you consciously want to take all the steps up to the bosom of the Godhead in light clarity that you have descended on your previous earthly pilgrimage

What do these women and these men wish

Light

(formulas --- prayer etc.)

The general vow

Now you have to take the special vow for the first degree of occult mason here at the altar of the East.

Bending your left knee on this step, your right knee at a right angle, your hand on this sacred document of the human race, the open Gospel of St. John, you repeat to me the vow of the first masonic degree: --