Esoteric Lessons 1904–1909

GA 266I

Rudolf Steiner and the Essence of Esotericism

Carl Unger from the lecture “Esotericism” given at the opening conference of the second Goetheanum building on Michaelmas 1928.¹ Carl Unger (1878–1929) was one of the first members of all departments of Rudolf Steiner's Esoteric School and was a member of the leadership of the Anthroposophical Society from 1908 until his death.

The nature of esotericism cannot be described in a few words. I would like to try to gain some insights into the position of esotericism in the present day.

Rudolf Steiner often said that there was always an esoteric element in the various epochs, but that something different was always referred to as esotericism. However, at all times, esotericism included an attitude of mind that lay outside the ordinary life and knowledge of the respective time, a difficult path that first had to be taken in order for people to strive and develop.

I would like to point out the transitions from the third cultural epoch to the fourth and from the fourth to the fifth epoch. The impulse of the third epoch is emerging again in our time, and so there is ample reason to occupy ourselves with it.

From Rudolf Steiner's “Occult Science”² we know how the cosmic developmental processes of an earlier time become the path of initiation for a later one.

In this sense, we can look at the ancient Indian mysteries as a repetition of the Saturn development in the polaric time, and we can look at the Persian path of initiation, in which the ancient solar development was reflected in its repetition during the Hyperborean time. Then we stand in the third post-Atlantic culture, the Egyptian-Chaldean epoch, which also contains the history of the Hebrew people. Ancient lunar forces well up in the soul, as they had changed throughout the Lemurian period. In ancient Lemuria, man still lived in magical connection with the elements of the earth; to a large extent, he could influence and conquer the forces of nature. We find this magical potency of the ancient times transformed and living on in the mystery centers of the third culture; we must indeed describe the esotericism prevailing in them as magical. What had been preserved as a cultural symbol from that time could only have been formed under the influence of a magical esotericism. Only a select few had access to it, and they were trained for it through tremendously hard and difficult trials. Often selected as young children, they had to undergo years of psychological and spiritual training to prepare them for the organic interaction of forces in their bodies, until they were able to experience the death of the mystic. This required the unconditional submission of the disciple to the teacher, who, by manipulating spiritual forces, detached the higher limbs of the disciple from the physical body and then guided them back again. Initiation could only be achieved through the magical assistance of the hierophant. And it was from the mystery centers that the nations were led and guided to cultural progress through magical powers and powerful suggestions.

The mystery centers themselves were protected by magical means against the intrusion of unauthorized persons. Whoever entered without permission, or whoever did not prove himself, perished. We find allusions to this protection of the holy places right up to the Old Testament: no one except the high priest himself may enter the Holy of Holies; any unconsecrated person who approaches it suffers death. Of course I know that there are materialistic interpretations of this in every detail; they only show that anyone who makes or believes such interpretations understands nothing of the things they are dealing with.

Then followed the Greek period, in which the memory of Atlantis was particularly alive and permeated the mystery being. It had a “secret esotericism”. It no longer shaped directly into the physical and bodily, but it became indirectly effective through the experience of the soul in the awakening consciousness. It sparked enthusiasm, the powers of inspiration, “being filled with the god,” and through art it developed spirit-begetting powers in human life.

To the same extent that the power to protect the mysteries through magic was lost, the secrecy of the esoteric was established and sought under oaths and threats. Those who betrayed the mysteries were persecuted and punished by death.

We still have traces of secret esotericism in the present day in the various secret societies; they cultivate the remains of ancient times in forms and rituals that they endeavor to keep strictly secret. There, too, betrayal is punished.

Today, however, we are dealing with completely different impulses. We have emerged from the era of magical efficacy and secret esotericism, because the mystery has been brought into the light of the public. The Mystery of Golgotha brought the turning point, in that Christ consciously broke through the barriers of old efficacy - and then, with his death and resurrection, “fulfilled” the mystery wisdom of all time, and “before all the people”. The knowledgeable people of that time also recognized this, which is why he was accused of betraying the mysteries. In the New Testament it says of Christ: “For he has done signs before the people,” so they sought “a cause against him.”

Rudolf Steiner presents this fundamental difference between the Christ-act and all previous initiations in his book³ (1902), GA 8, and in many lectures. The Mystery of Golgotha is meant to reach the whole world; it is a cosmic event; in it we have the liberation of the mystery being. Since the Mystery of Golgotha, we must recognize esotericism as a free one; that is the essential point. Rudolf Steiner took up this fact and, during the second period of his work in the Anthroposophical Society, introduced us ever more deeply into the Mystery of Golgotha with the help of the Gospels. By sharing with us the results of his spiritual scientific research into the cosmic deed of Christ Jesus, he opened up a new understanding for us of the biblical accounts as well; genuine and true reverence for the soul arose anew from such insight into the religious documents. Placed in this context, the individual word of the Bible regained its sacred, all-encompassing truth; the individual word was experienced in its esoteric power.

Rudolf Steiner wanted to convey to the people who had come together in the Anthroposophical Society an esoteric teaching appropriate to the spiritual situation of our fifth cultural epoch. He wanted to show them the paths to a Christian esoteric development by further developing the methods of supersensible research in a way that was appropriate for the time of the consciousness soul, based on an understanding of ancient occult tradition.

I would like to illustrate this a little with words that he himself used. Rudolf Steiner once said: People do not consider that in each of my lectures, including public lectures, there is a wealth of esoteric information. The lectures must only be able to be properly received. He said this after it was no longer possible during the war years to cultivate esotericism in the usual way, and members approached him with the request to resume this esotericism. Rudolf Steiner wanted to characterize what he wanted to be understood by “esoteric” in today's world. On another occasion he said: “I would like to draw your attention to an esoteric book that, although it is right in front of everyone, is not understood as such by anyone, namely Fichte's ‘Wissenschaftslehre’ (The Theory of Knowledge). In the same sense, Rudolf Steiner described every table of logarithms as esoteric, i.e. it is part of the understanding of the same that the person acquires the scientific prerequisites through learning, musters the goodwill to work out the necessary preparations. For us, it all comes down to taking such words very seriously.

But how did Rudolf Steiner cultivate esotericism in our society?

Anyone who has followed Rudolf Steiner's path since the turn of the century could have experienced the following: Rudolf Steiner often sought the ground for certain presentations, and it could happen that he shared something from his spiritual research with a very small group, sometimes even only with three, two or even just one person - on a trial basis. He conducted a kind of primeval experiment to see how far the present consciousness could 'bear' these things. He would present some new research result to a few people in this way. One could ask questions and discuss the matters. After some time, however, one could experience him putting the same question to a larger circle, for example to the circle of people who formed an esoteric group. But then it happened that Rudolf Steiner presented the context to all members of the Anthroposophical Society; and if one waited a little longer, he began to speak about the same fact in lectures to the public.

You see how the esoteric, i.e. the spiritual, which is still inaccessible to ordinary experience, had to be introduced step by step into contemporary consciousness. The soil had to be plowed step by step so that the seed could be sown. But these things were certainly meant for all people from the very beginning. Rudolf Steiner broke through the wall that had enclosed the spiritual life of the new era until the end of the Kaliyuga [1899]. Even today there are initiates of different directions, progressive and conservative. Rudolf Steiner, however, wanted to give people everything they would prove themselves ready for. Just as Jesus Christ went through the Mystery of Golgotha for all people, so here too no one should be excluded.

However, it should be noted that the spiritual world also has its laws, and does not allow those who do not have the will to prepare themselves to approach it. The effort that the individual has to expend, the circumstances and the state of consciousness ensure that no unauthorized person can approach the things. The mystery protects itself through itself; today it needs no means, neither of magic nor of secrecy.

In the methodology of the paths to the esoteric, Rudolf Steiner provided protection for the mystery. These paths are such that in the preparation, in what Rudolf Steiner called the “study” of anthroposophy, lies the awakening power for true self-knowledge of the human being. The call, “O man, know thyself,” which resounds from the mysteries, penetrates the soul that is seriously striving for spiritual knowledge of anthroposophy. In the practice of the soul, it transforms the ordinary experience of the self into true self-awareness, out of which a new sense of human responsibility arises: responsibility to the spirit. In the awakening of the spiritual self, the soul feels at home among spiritual beings; under their gaze, a new moral soul attitude arises in it. Just as the 'old knowledge' required protection through magic or secrecy, so the new knowledge is based on the true self-knowledge of the human being and the spiritual responsibility that blossoms from it. This is why Rudolf Steiner brought everything into the public sphere with the Christmas Conference⁴. He wanted a new mystery movement whose impulses could lead directly to the Christ event; free esotericism is the only thing possible today. Just as magical esotericism shaped physical events, and secret esotericism awakened new powers of experience through the art of the soul, so free esotericism addresses the human spirit.