Self-Knowledge and Luciferic Forces in Esoteric Development

GA 266II — 2 January 1911, Stuttgart

Esoteric Lesson

We must take esoteric life seriously; an esoteric hour must therefore always be something sacred to us. We should never accept it as something ordinary. We were probably not all aware of the necessary seriousness when we asked to be admitted to the esoteric circle. But now we must keep this ever more clearly before our souls and strive for connection with the spiritual worlds, so that we do not fall back into everyday life.

The exercises we are given should always be regarded as coming from the Masters. The esotericist should pay attention to himself and his feelings, especially to what concerns his self-knowledge. The vast majority of people – and we are probably among them – are greatly deceived about themselves. We must pay particular attention to egoism. We often tell ourselves that we are doing something selflessly, or we feel envy and hatred toward someone who has not yet come to our consciousness. We then think that, as esotericists, we must tell them the “truth” and not allow them to do this or that. As soon as such feelings arise in us, we should imagine that we are indulging in serious delusions, the deeper cause of which always springs from egoism. Such feelings always manifest themselves as a feeling of warmth that pervades the etheric body—namely, that part we call the warmth ether—and acts through the blood onto the physical body. Such feelings always have a harmful effect on human beings and world development.

The hierarchies charged with guiding karmic relationships then work in such a way that they appoint special beings who destroy certain constructive effects within us and thus also have a destructive effect on the soul and indirectly on the body. These are the Luciferic beings appointed for this purpose, who then work upon us. — With true self-knowledge, when we recognize our own wickedness, instead of the aforementioned feeling of warmth, which satisfies us, a cold feeling of ice pervades us. Everything that satisfies us through our emotions and so on is expressed in contrast to this feeling of coldness, which occurs with true self-knowledge, in the feeling of warmth described above.

These Luciferic beings, which thereby approach the student destructively, reveal themselves to the clairvoyant as specific groups led by Samael. These beings, which have nothing human about them, are always perceptible to the spiritual eye. If, upon waking, we have a feeling of disgust, as is often the case, especially with esoteric students, such a feeling is almost always due to egoism, which often lies unrecognized deep in the subconscious depths of the soul.

Furthermore, we must focus our attention on everything related to untruthfulness. Although we do not commit gross untruths as a result of our upbringing, we nevertheless always have a tendency to appear better than we really are. Or, when it comes to matters of life and death, we prefer to conceal and disguise the truth rather than admit it. All of this also has a damaging effect on world events and thus a destructive effect on human beings themselves. The effects of such untruthfulness affect our astral body, then our etheric body, specifically the part we call light ether. From here, such harmful influences affect the physical body, especially the nervous system. The Luciferic beings associated with this, whose leader is Azazel, reveal themselves to clairvoyants as human-like beings, usually with a head and raven wings. Those who are prone to untruthfulness will usually feel a choking, scratching sensation in their throat, and they often feel as if they are being pinched with tongs and tormented by a thousand arms. Anyone who observes themselves closely will then realize how deeply they are still entangled in lies and pretense!

Furthermore, it is important to be attentive to a certain indifference and dullness towards the spiritual worlds and influences. Many of us esotericists listen to an esoteric lecture, but what is given does not resonate with us. We cannot rise spiritually above our ordinary daily lives and engage in spiritual thoughts. Others have only the intention of gaining something in the spiritual worlds out of curiosity and therefore meditate blindly without wanting to devote themselves to regular study, because that is too inconvenient for them. This has a damaging effect on the ego, from there on the astral body, then further on the etheric body, namely on that part which we call the chemical ether. From there it affects the juices and glands of the physical body.

There is a difference between the esotericist and the non-esotericist in relation to the Luciferic hosts. In the latter case, for example, Azazel and his hosts always want to bring about good effects, since they do not harm health but only complement it, so to speak. The esoteric student, however, is required to be constantly aware of his full responsibility toward himself and toward the world. That is why a dull esotericist will easily have the feeling of drowning when he wakes up in the morning, and the more he abandons himself to the ordinary life of the senses during the day, the more he will feel this.

The esoteric student should therefore always pay attention to himself, and it does no harm if he sometimes becomes brooding as a result. Only in this way will he understand what is suggested to us at the end of each lesson by the masters of wisdom:

In the spirit lay the seed of my body ...
In my body lies the seed of the spirit ...