The Four Luciferic Beings and Esoteric Development

GA 266II — 1 January 1912, Hanover

Esoteric Lesson

Record A

In our previous esoteric consideration, we had reached the point where, through our training, we had removed from ourselves what we call our doppelganger. It is truly not a pleasant sensation when we see objectively before us everything that we had previously harbored unconsciously within ourselves, which then follows us like a shadow wherever we go. We have heard that it is Samael, one of the Luciferic beings with his hosts, who brings the doppelganger out of us. This shows that the Luciferic beings do not always bring about evil, but also good. If we always carried our mistakes within us unconsciously, we could never become aware of the destructive, corrupting forces they wreak both in our bodies and in the entire cosmic substance. As long as Samael has not brought our mistakes out of our inner being, as long as we do not see them objectively as our doppelganger, the destructive power of all our emotions—such as jealousy, hatred, envy—and of our passions in general, which we radiate into our environment, will remain mercifully hidden from us by the Godhead. The clairvoyant sees how these passions destroy and break down something in our physical body and also in the substance of the cosmos, while the good arouses constructive forces. Thus, Samael is basically a blessing for development. The more seriously we take our training, the more accurately he shows us our inner being. We then see ourselves objectively with our faults, which we have not paid any attention to until now.

Now they will increasingly arouse our disgust and spur us on to improve them. Now a second experience inevitably occurs in the esoteric student, and this is perceived inwardly as a feeling of not being able to breathe, as if one were suffocating. This feeling arises because the student gradually begins to pay close attention to the subtle inner workings of his soul, especially to the untruths and lies that lie dormant in every human being. This does not refer to the gross lies and hypocrisy that afflict lower natures, but to the finer nuances that we do not notice because of our superficiality, that we often do not even acknowledge. An example of this will be given below. Let us suppose that someone learns that a theosophical lecture is to be given here or there. He thinks: That's something good, I'll go there – but at the same time he thinks that he will meet this or that person with whom he would like to be. But nevertheless he convinces himself that this is not the main reason, and imagines that it is because of the lecture that he is going there. Such things happen every day, so to speak, that we lie to ourselves and do not notice it or do not want to notice it. But it is precisely these untruths, which we have not noticed until now, that will come to our consciousness in countless cases, so that we believe we are suffocating on them.

A second example will prove how we as humans live only on the surface in all our actions, even in our duties. (This is followed by the example of teachers who were to be tested for the second time and did not know what was in the textbooks they used every day.) And this superficiality spreads throughout our entire soul life, so that we do not even recognize the untruths we hold ourselves to.

At the beginning of our exercises, we may notice little progress; thoughts about everyday life will flood in from all sides. It will take a long time before we notice any success in our exercises, and it will also take a long time before a second being, called Azazel, can begin to influence us to bring us to a deeper understanding, that is, to make us aware of our superficiality. Samael and Azazel both have to bring something out of us, but a third being, Azael, has to bring something to us. He has to bring us the longing for a higher, spiritual life. The next example shows us what this means. A scientist who is driven by a thirst for knowledge and who wants to delve ever deeper into science suddenly finds himself at the point where he has reached the limits of his knowledge and cannot go any further with his intellect. In most cases, he will say: Yes, my intellect, or human intellect in general, cannot go any further – and he will resign himself to this. Others, however, who feel their soul a little more alive, will continue to search and will be led to theosophy or spiritual science. There they believe they can continue their research beyond the limits that materialistic science has set before them. But as soon as they embark on the esoteric path, they will find themselves in an unpleasant situation, a feeling, a sensation that could be described as a feeling of drowning. For as a person penetrates deeper and deeper into esotericism, the boundaries expand further and further until he reaches a point where everything seems to recede, where he stands before an abyss. He no longer feels any support anywhere; everything disappears beneath his feet. Only by courageously continuing on the path they have begun, by diligently continuing their meditations, will the light of knowledge dawn on them that Maya must first fall away before they can recognize the spiritual, which is the truth. This knowledge is brought to us by Azael; he protects people from spiritual (dull-wittedness) drowning.

Now there is a fourth being, Mehazael. He brings us to consciousness and awakens in us the feeling that we are bound to time and space. We can best understand this by imagining a state of mind that many of us have probably experienced in our lives. Namely, when we wake up in the morning and feel weighed down by the duties and worries that the new day brings. Some will be familiar with this feeling, which is accompanied by another, the desire to shake off the chains that bind us to this burden, which is all the heavier because we know that we are powerless against it, that we must bow to it. Here Mehazael shows us our karma.

But as soon as we embark on the esoteric path, we will be able to bear this burden more easily. Mehazael shows it to us so that we do not resist it unnecessarily; for by doing so we would only worsen our karma instead of shaking it off. Thus, these four Luciferic forces are ultimately a blessing for us.

We have seen that every time we fail to conquer our passions and give free rein to our anger and hatred, we break down and destroy something within ourselves, turning it into dust, both within ourselves and in the cosmic substance into which our feelings, sensations, and thoughts continually flow; In doing so, we not only bring disaster upon ourselves, but also create karma for the world around us. In the esoteric teachings, we have so far only studied karma theoretically. It will now become clear to us how much deeper and more complicated karma works.

In order to become aware of the full effect of these four entities within us, we must continue our meditation vigorously. We should not only meditate on the things and esoteric sayings that are given to us, such as meditation on the Rosicrucian cross. We should also try to meditate on feelings and sensations, which is much more difficult. For example, if we meditate on sympathy and immerse ourselves completely in this feeling, warmth will flow through us; meditation on antipathy will arouse a feeling of coldness within us. If, for example, we first meditate on the Rosicrucians and then on a strong impulse of will, an impulse to do a good deed, we will see inner light, together with a stream of warmth. All our exercises and meditations do not bring immediate success; for some it is slower, for others faster, depending on their development and karma. Some will succeed after fifty attempts, others will need a whole lifetime; but we must wait patiently and courageously move forward. Where does the sun get its power to appear in the same place every morning to shine its light? The life of the esotericist should be completely different from what it was before. He actually leads two lives: one that gradually crumbles and dies, and another that gives him light from the spirit from which he originated. In the ancient mysteries, the wise masters expressed the course of human life, that is, the dying of the old man and the blazing forth of the new man through the Christ Spirit, in these words: Ex Deo nascimur - and since the name of Christ was too holy for them to utter, they added: In - - - morimur. Per Spiritum Sanctum reviviscimus.

Record B

Yesterday, in our esoteric consideration, we saw how the esotericist must, through right meditation and concentration, consciously develop himself through the world of illusion to the reality of the spiritual world, and that he is helped on this path by good Luciferic beings, whose leader is Samael.

But there are even more such beings, and we must first consider Azazel and his followers. Human beings usually possess more insincerity and untruthfulness than they themselves realize, and I now see many who will say: I really no longer have any untruthfulness in me; I have completely discarded it. But this untruthfulness is so subtle that we are usually not even aware of it. We can see this clearly in the following example (go to theosophical lecture – other reasons). All this insincerity is brought to our consciousness by Azazel with his hosts, and when we feel as if we are being pinched with tongs, tormented by a thousand arms, we should think about how deeply we are still entangled in untruthfulness and lies.

A third being who approaches the esotericist is Azael. He too can cause an oppressive feeling, a pressure similar to that of a nightmare, and a choking, scratching sensation in the throat. Once again, we should make ourselves clear what bad qualities we still have to get rid of, including indifference to world events; for the esotericist should not be indifferent to what is happening in the world. Most people are so entangled in egoism that they remain completely indifferent to everything that happens around them. This is also the source of the indifference of the masses toward Theosophy.

Furthermore, when awakening, some esotericists feel a sense of disgust toward the circumstances in which their karma has placed them! They feel as if they are bound to the ground with iron chains. This is what Mehazael does with his followers. Esotericists must pay attention to all these occurrences in order to recognize their inherent faults and strive to gradually rid themselves of them.