Human History and the World Views of Civilized Nations

GA 353 — 4 June 1924, Dornach

The Nature of the Sun – Origins of the Freemasonry: The Sign, grip and word — Ku Klux Klan

Have you found something you want to ask, gentlemen?

Question: How are the sun's rays created? Are they a substance? And how is it that they fall on the earth in an arc?

Dr. Steiner: You don't mean that the sun's rays are a reality, do you? And why you think that they fall in an arc, you can perhaps explain something else.

The questioner says that he has heard that they do not fall straight down onto the earth, but in an arc.

Dr. Steiner: The thing is this: the sun's rays, as we see them, are not actually reality; rather, when we look at the sun as such, it is not actually a physical substance, it is actually spiritual and consists of a hollow space in space.

Now, you just have to imagine what such a hollow in space means. If you have a bottle of Selters water, as I have used the comparison before, then the bottle is filled with water, and you can hardly see the water; you know that there is water in it, but you can see very clearly the bubbles that are in there. But you know that if you pour out the water, the bubbles will disappear; they are actually air. As air, they are thinner than water. You don't see something that is denser than water, but you see the thinner part of the air in it. It is the same with the sun above. Everything around the sun is actually denser than the sun, and the sun is thinner than what is around the sun; that's why you see the sun. So it is an illusion to believe that the sun is something in space, so to speak. There is actually nothing there; there is a big hole, just as there is a hole in the seltzer water wherever there is a pearl, wherever there is air.

From this you can already see: It cannot be that rays emanate from the hole. The rays arise in a completely different way. You can visualize this in the following way. Suppose you have a street lamp; there is light inside this street lamp. If you are walking on the street and looking at this lantern, and it is a fairly bright evening, you will see the lantern with a firm, beautiful shine. But consider this: if it is a foggy evening, with fog all around, it will seem as if rays are emanating from the lantern, from the light! So you see the rays inside. You just don't see the rays from the light, otherwise you would also have to see the rays on a really good evening. But they come from what is all around; and the more fog there is, the more you see the rays. That is why you do not see the sun's rays as reality, but as something where you look through a fog at something less dense, into an emptiness. Do you understand?

But now further: When one looks through a mist into the distance, then the object that one sees always appears at a different location than where it actually is. If you are standing here on earth and you look through the air at the sun, which is actually empty, then, as you look, the sun will appear to be lower than where it actually is – then it will appear to be lower in the emptiness of space. As a result, something that has no reality anyway appears as if it were bent out of shape. So it is actually only because you are looking through the fog. That is the reality in this case. One must always marvel anew that today's physicists depict things as if there were a sun and rays emanating from it, while neither the sun nor the rays have any external physical reality. And in the space that is empty, there is indeed spiritual substance. And that is what must always be taken into account. That is what I can say in relation to this question.

Perhaps someone can think of something else.

Question: Could we hear something about Freemasonry and its purpose?

Dr. Steiner: Well, you see, gentlemen, today's Freemasonry is actually, one could say, only a shadow of what it once was. I have also spoken here on various occasions about the fact that in the very early days of human development there were no schools like those of today, nor churches like those of today, nor art institutions like those of today, but all of this was one. In the ancient mysteries, as they were called, there was the school, the art institution and the religion at the same time. This only diverged later. So that it actually became so for our Central European regions, one could even say, only in the 11th, 12th century; in former times the monasteries were, I would say, a memory of the old times. But in very ancient times, school, church and art institutions were one and the same thing. It was the case, however, that in the mysteries everything that was done there was taken much more seriously than it is taken today, for example, in our schools and also in our churches.

The situation in those days was that one had to prepare for a long time before one was allowed to learn. Today, basically, whether one can learn something or not is decided by a principle that has nothing to do with learning. Isn't it true that today the only thing that really matters is whether the person in question can afford to learn or not! Of course, this is something that has nothing to do with the abilities of the person concerned. And the situation was quite different in ancient times. Among all of humanity, those who were the most capable were selected – and people had a better eye for this than they do today. Of course, the system fell into decline almost everywhere because people are selfish by nature, but originally the principle was to select those who had abilities. And only then were they entitled to learn spiritually – not simply through drilling and training and elements, as taught today, but they were able to learn spiritually.

But this spiritual learning is linked to the fact that in preparation, one learns to develop very specific abilities. You just have to bear in mind that in ordinary life, when you touch something, you actually have a rough sensation of it; and the most that people achieve today is that they can sometimes distinguish substances from one another in their sensation, that they feel things in this way and distinguish something in their sensation. But people today are actually quite rough in their perception - I mean, in their purely physical perception; they distinguish between warmth and cold. At most, people who depend on it can develop a more refined sense of perception. The blind, for example. There are blind people who learn to feel the letterforms when they run their fingers over the paper. Each letter is, after all, engraved a little into the paper. If the feeling in the fingers is developed finely, one can already feel the letters a little. These are the only people who today learn to feel and sense more subtly. As a rule, the feeling is not developed at all, but one learns an enormous amount if one develops the feeling, and especially the feeling in the fingertips and in the fingers, very finely. Today, people do not just distinguish between warmth and cold through feeling. Yes, he can, because he can read the thermometer; the subtle differences in heat and cold become visible to him. But the thermometer was only invented over time. Before that, people only had their feelings. In the Mystery preparations, feelings were particularly developed at the beginning, especially in the fingers and fingertips. And it was the case that one learned to feel in the finest way.

So who was it in the mysteries who was the first to be prepared to feel very finely? Well, the other people could not feel so finely. Now suppose there was a mystery somewhere else. People traveled a lot in ancient times; they traveled almost as much as we do, and sometimes we are amazed at how fast they traveled. They didn't have a railroad; but they traveled because they were nimble, could walk faster, got less tired, walked a little better, and so on. And now they met on the way, such people. Yes, when two such people, who could feel subtly, shook hands, they recognized each other by that, and it was said: They recognize each other by their subtler feeling. That is what is called the grip - the grip when one gripped the other in ancient times and one recognized that he had a subtler feeling.

Now, gentlemen, consider the second point: once it was recognized that someone had a fine perception, then one went further, because one learned even more. In ancient times, people did not write as much as they do today; they actually only rarely wrote down the most important things. However, there was already a kind of correspondence in ancient times; but this correspondence was also more in all sorts of signs. And so many signs came into being for all sorts of things. It was also the case that people who did not belong to the mysteries, who were not the wise men, as they were called, only traveled in a smaller area when they traveled; they did not get very far. But the scholars, the wise men, traveled a great deal. They should have known not only all languages, but also all dialects. Of course, it is difficult even for a North German to speak Swiss German. But for these people, in addition to the language they spoke, there were certain signs for all the things that interested them in the mysteries. They made signs. For example, let's say that the usual gesture that one already has in one's mind was further developed: I understand –; or: That's not what you're telling me –; or: We understand each other well. – You drew the cross inside. So that there was a fully developed sign language precisely among the ancient sages, and everything that was known was contained in such signs. So you can see: All the people who were in the high schools of the time, in the mysteries, had certain signs for everything. Let's say, for example, that they wanted to record these signs. Then they painted them on. This is how the painted signs came about.

It is interesting that there are still certain writings today that clearly show that they originated from signs. This is, for example, the old script of the Indians, the Sanskrit script. In this script, you can see everywhere that everything has emerged from the curved and the straight line. Curved lines: dissatisfaction with something, antipathy; straight lines: sympathy. Just think about it: someone knows that straight lines mean sympathy and crooked lines mean antipathy. Now I want to tell him something. I also have my sign for that. He wants to tell me something; that can go well at the beginning, but later it can go badly. You see, it's still going well; later he draws a wavy line: then it can go badly. And so they had certain signs for everything. Those who were initiated into the mysteries would use these signs to communicate with each other. So the sign was used to access the handle.

Now, something very special was seen in the words in the past. You see, when a person speaks words today, he actually has no idea what the words are. But you can still feel something that is already contained in the sounds. You will easily be able to feel when someone is in a certain situation and he starts: A - that has something to do with amazement. A - the letter A is wonder. Now take the letter R: in it lies rolling, radiance: R = radiance. A = wonder, R = rolling, radiance.

Now, however, we know what we just said about the sun's rays. But even if the sun's rays are apparent, if they are not reality, it looks as if they are flowing. Now imagine someone wants to say: There is something up there that throws something at me here on earth, which, when it appears to me in the morning, causes amazement. He expresses the amazement with A, but that it comes from above, with R; he expresses that with: RA. Yes, that is what the ancient Egyptians called the sun god: Ra! Each of these letters contains a feeling, and we have put the letters together to form words. So there was a very broad sense to it. This has long been forgotten today. You can feel something like that in different things. Take, for example, I. This is something like a quiet joy; you come to terms with what you experience and perceive: I. That is why laughter is also expressed with hihi. That is a quiet joy. So each letter has something specific in it. And there is a knowledge through which you can almost form the words if you have an understanding of the sounds that are within the words.

Now you will say one thing, gentlemen: Yes, then, if that were the case, there could actually only be one language! Originally there was also one language among humanity; when one still had a feeling for these sounds, these letters, there was only one language. The languages then became different when people dispersed. But originally people sensed this, and in the mysteries it was taught correctly how to sense sounds, letters, and how to make words out of them. Therefore there was a language of its own in the mysteries. This language, everyone spoke among themselves. They did not speak the dialects among themselves, but this language everyone understood. If one said Ra, the other knew that this is the sun. If someone says, for example, E - just feel it: I recoil from something, it doesn't suit me; E = I have a slight fear, something like dread! Now take L: that is how something disappears, how something flows, and EL, yes, that is something that flows towards you and makes you recoil, makes you afraid. Thus in Babylon El = God was called. Thus everything was designated according to this principle. Or take the Bible: when you say: O - that is a sudden amazement, a sudden amazement that you cannot overcome. With the A - there you have a feeling that you like, an amazement that you like; O - there you want to step back; H, Ch is the breath. So that one can say: O = recoiling amazement; H = breath; I = one points to it, one is pleased about it, it is quiet joy = I. And M, that is: one wants to go into it oneself. You feel when you pronounce M: M - the breath goes out, and one feels that one is literally running after the breath; M is therefore: going away. Now let's put this together: El, we have already seen that, is the spirit coming from the wind; O = that is the recoiling amazement, H = the breath; so that is already the finer spirit that works as breath; I is the quiet joy; M is the going. There you have Elohim, with which the Bible begins; there you have these sounds in it. So that one can say: What are the Elohim? – The Elohim are beings in the wind that one is somewhat afraid of, that one shies away from a little, but that through breathing bring joy to people, and in turning towards people bring joy: Elohim. And so originally one studies in the words according to the sounds, according to the letters, what the words actually mean. Today people no longer sense what it is actually like.

What is the plural of “carriage” here in Switzerland? Do we say “carriage” here too, or do we say “carriages”? (Answer: “Carriages”! This answer is wrong. The Swiss German is “Wäge”, as Dr. Steiner suspected.) - We still say “carriage”. So there it is already confused; the original would be: “the carriage”, “the carriages”! We have a wide variety of plurals, for example, der Bruder, die Brüder. But that's the same in Switzerland! You don't say “the brothers,” do you? So it's: der Bruder, die Brüder. Or we say: das Holz, die Hölzer. You don't say “the woodworkers,” do you? It's: das Holz, die Hölzer. You see, gentlemen, when the plural is formed, the umlaut is formed: ainä, uinü, oinö. Why does that happen? Yes, the umlaut expresses that the thing becomes unclear! When I see one brother, he is clearly there as a person; when I see several brothers, it becomes unclear, and I have to distinguish one from the other, and if I cannot do that, it becomes unclear. You have to look at one after the other. The lack of clarity is indicated everywhere by the umlaut. So wherever there is an umlaut in a word, something is unclear.

There is something in language by which you can actually recognize the whole person; there is the whole person. And so people also expressed how certain meanings already lay within the letters that were written down, within these signs. A was always astonishment. When the old Jew wrote down x like this, he said to himself: Who is astonished in the world? The animals are not really surprised, only man. That is why he called man in general: amazement. When he wrote down his Aleph, the x, the Hebrew A, it also meant man.

And so it was that each letter also meant a specific thing or being. All this was known to the people who were initiated into the mysteries. So if someone travelled and met another, and they had the same knowledge, they recognized each other by the word. So you can say: In the old days, it was so that people who had studied something, who knew a lot, recognized each other by touch, sign and word. Yes, but, gentlemen, there was something in it! All learning was really contained in these signs, gestures and words. Because by learning to feel, one learned to distinguish objects. By having the signs, one had an imitation of all that was a natural secret. And in the word, one came to know the inner human being. So you can say: in the grip you had perception; in the sign you had nature, and in the word you had the human being, his inner wonder or his recoil, his joy and so on. So you had nature and man and you reproduced it in signs, grips and words.

Now, in the course of human development, what emerged on the one hand was divided into the university and later into schools, and on the other hand into the church and into art. None of the three understood what was originally present; and grip, sign and word were completely lost. Only those who had then realized: Gosh, those old sages, they had a certain power because they knew that! It is a justified power that a person has when he knows something, because it benefits his fellow human beings; if no one knew how to make a locomotive, humanity would never have one! So when someone knows something, it benefits people; that is a justified power. But later on people simply appropriated the power by copying the outward signs. Just as these or those signs once meant something in the past and later on the meaning was lost, so all that has lost its meaning. And then, I might say, by imitating the old mysteries, all sorts of things were formed in which you only have the outward form. What did people do? They no longer had the subtle perception, but they agreed on a sign by which they would recognize each other. They shake hands in a certain way, by which one knows: he belongs to this association. They recognized each other by the handshake. Then they make another sign in some way. The sign and the handshake are different, depending on whether one is in the first, second or third degree. That is how people recognize each other. But it is nothing more than just a sign of recognition. And in the same way, they have certain words for each degree, which they can pronounce in certain Masonic lodges; let us say, for the first degree, for example, if you want to know: what is the word? - [the password] Jachin. We know that he learned the word Jachin in the Masonic lodge, otherwise he would not have been initiated into the first degree. It is only a password. And then he also makes the sign and so on.

Now, actually, this kind of Freemasonry has only developed when everything else from the mysteries was forgotten; and some of the old things that were no longer understood were imitated. So that what Freemasonry has adopted of the cult is mostly no longer understood by Freemasons today; they also do not understand the sign, grip and word because they do not know what it is all about. They do not know, for example, that when they speak the word of the second degree from Table 21: Boaz, that the B is as much as a house; O is, as I told you, this restrained wonder; A: that is the pleasant amazement; $ is the sign for the snake. With that you have expressed: We recognize the world as that which is a great house, built by the great architect of the world, at which one must marvel both anxiously and comfortably, and in which there is also evil, the snake. Yes, people knew about such things in ancient times; they looked at nature and saw these things, looked at people and saw these things. Today, in certain Masonic orders, those who have completed the second degree pronounce the word 'Boaz' without realizing its significance. Similarly, if in the third degree people put their fingers on the pulse, it really meant that they had recognized that the person had a fine intuitive perception. You could tell by the way the finger was placed on the pulse. Later, this became the third degree. Today, people just know when someone comes and takes their hand like that: that's a Freemason. So in these things there is actually something old, venerable, great, something in which all earlier learning lay; now this has been completely reduced to formulaic emptiness. So that today the Freemasons have such things; they also have ceremonies, a cult: that is still from the times when everything was also shown in a cult, in ceremonies, so that it was more forceful for people. The Freemasons still do that today. So that in this inward relationship the Masonic order really no longer has any significance.

But for many people, going through with such covenants when they were established was terribly boring, because it actually degenerated into a kind of gimmick. So something was needed that could be poured into Freemasonry. And that's why the Freemasons became more or less political, or again more or less spread religious enlightenment teachings. The unenlightened Roman doctrine was administered by Rome. The doctrine that opposed Rome was then spread by Freemasonry. Therefore, Rome, the Roman cult and Freemasonry are the very greatest opponents. This is no longer connected with what the cult, sign, grip and word were in the Freemasons, but that just came in between. In France, the union was not called a union, but “Orient de France”, because everything was taken from the Orient - “Grand Orient de France”, that is the great French Masonic union. The other things, the signs, the grips and the words, are only there to keep the people together, they are the means by which they recognize each other. The joint worship is where they come together under particularly solemn circumstances; just as others come together in the church, so these Freemasons come together under ceremonies that come from the ancient mysteries. That is what keeps the people together.

It was also common, especially in Italy at certain times, when political secret societies were formed, to recognize and come together through certain ceremonies, signs and grips. Political alliances and political associations have always been linked to this ancient mystery knowledge. And today, once again, it is quite remarkable: if you go to certain Polish and Austrian areas today, you will find posters; on these posters are strange signs and strange letters that then combine into words; at first you not know what the poster means at first – but such a poster, which is everywhere in Polish and Austrian areas today, is the outward sign of an alliance formed by certain nationalist sides among the youth. The same things are being done there. It is actually widespread, and people know very well that the sign also has a certain strong power. There are associations, the German-Volkish, for example, they have an old Indian sign: two snakes entwined, or also, if you will, a wheel, which then transformed into the swastika. They have it today as a badge. And you will often hear that the swastika is adopted as a sign for certain chauvinistic nationalistic circles. This is because of the tradition that the ancients expressed their rule through such signs. And so it has always been on a large scale in the Freemasons' Association. The Freemasons' Association actually exists to keep certain people together, and it does this through ceremonies, signs, grips and words. And then it pursues secret aims by keeping certain secrets among all those who are connected under these ceremonies, signs, grip and word. Of course, secret aims can only be pursued if they do not all know; and so it is with the Masonic federations that they often pursue political or cultural and similar aims.

But now you can say one more thing, gentlemen. You see, the people who are connected in Masonic associations are by no means to be challenged because of that, but sometimes they have the very best and noblest intentions; they are only of the opinion that you cannot win people over to something other than through such alliances, and therefore most Masonic associations also have the purpose of practicing charity on a large scale. That is all well and good, to practice charity and humanity. This is also something that is practiced on a large scale by these associations. Therefore, it is no wonder that the Freemason can always point out that an awful lot of extraordinary humanitarian and charitable work is founded and established precisely by the Masonic associations. You just have to say to yourself: in this day and age, all such things are actually no longer in keeping with the times. Because, right, what do we have to reject most today in such things? We have to reject isolation. This also leads to the emergence of a spiritual aristocracy, which should not exist. And the democratic principle, which must be applied more and more, is actually completely opposed to the Masonic alliance as well as to the closed priesthoods. So that one can say: It is already the case that anyone who is still able to understand today what is contained in some Masonic ceremonies for the first, second and third degrees, can recognize in what the Freemasons themselves often do not understand that they often go back to very ancient wisdom; but this is not the main significance. The great significance is that today many Masonic associations, alliances, are actually home to many political or other social charitable endeavors. But the Catholic Church and the Freemasons fight each other tooth and nail. However, this has only developed over time.

Now, of course, it is very easy to mistake such things. And it has also occurred: the Freemasons have a certain clothing for their ceremonies; for example, they have a lambskin apron. Some have said: Freemasonry is nothing more than a game with the masonry trade because the mason has a lambskin apron. But that is not true. And the apron that is there is there to show – and it has always originally been made of lambskin – that the one who is in such covenants should not be a raging fellow in terms of the passions; so the genitals are to be covered with his apron, and that is the sign of it. So it was something that expressed the human character in signs. And so it is with very many signs that also lie in clothing.

Then there are also higher degrees where a garment similar to a priest's is worn; there every single detail has a meaning. For example, I have told you that man, in addition to the physical body, also has an etheric body. And just as the priest has a white linen garment, a shirt-like robe, to express the etheric body, so too certain high degrees of the Freemasons have such a garment, and for the astral body - it is colored - there is a toga, an outer garment; all this expresses it. And the mantle, which was then associated with the helmet, expressed the power of the ego.

All these things lead back to old, very ingenious, significant customs that have lost their meaning today. If someone likes Freemasonry, they should not take what I have said as a disparaging comment. I just wanted to explain how things are. Of course, there may be an order of Freemasons that brings together exceptionally good people and so on. And in today's world, something like that can be particularly important. Really, what most people learn today when they become doctors or lawyers – yes, that does not capture their hearts. And that is why many lawyers and doctors still become Freemasons, because at least they then have the solemnity of the old ceremonies and something that no longer allows them much to think about, but which is still something: sign, grip and word, but which indicates that man does not live only in the external material.

That is what I wanted to tell you. Do you have anything else you would like to ask?

Question: In America there is something called the Ku Klux Klan. What about it? Can we hear from Dr. Steiner about what it means? You read about it all the time.

Dr. Steiner: Yes, you see, the Ku-Klux-Klan is one of the newest inventions in this area, and it is an invention that should be taken more seriously than it is usually taken. You know, gentlemen, that only a few decades ago there was actually enthusiasm for a certain cosmopolitanism. Today it is still there, of course, among the working class, among social democracy - these are an international element - but in bourgeois circles and in other circles, nationalism is getting terribly out of hand, and the mood for nationalism is certainly strong. And you will also remember that those people who stood behind Woodrow Wilson – he himself was only a kind of front man – actually counted on this nationalism, wanted to have national states everywhere, wanted to incite nationalism everywhere, and so on. Yes, one can have one's own views about that! But now there are people everywhere who are developing the tendency to take nationalism to the extreme. And it was precisely in this endeavor to take nationalism to the extreme that the Ku Klux Klan was formed in America. It now works with methods such as signs, in the sense I have described.

If you are considering such connections, then you have to know that signs also have a certain hypnotic power. You know, if you have a chicken (it is drawn), if you let the chicken poke the ground with its beak, and you draw a chalk line from there, the chicken will follow the chalk line! It is hypnotized, it follows the line! You just have to poke the beak at the beginning, then it will follow the chalk line because it is hypnotized by the line. So every sign has a meaning, not only the straight line for the chicken, a certain soporific meaning, if you look for it. And that is used by certain secret societies to choose just such signs, through which they beguile the other person, put him to sleep, so that he does not assert his own judgment. And such means are used by such secret societies in particular. In America, the Ku-Klux-Klan belongs to this group. Now the Ku Klux Klan is dangerous because such associations do not just target one nation, but they want to have the nationalist principle everywhere. No one can say: the Ku Klux Klan need only remain an American institution because it particularly wants to promote American nationalism. The Ku Klux Klan supporter does not say that; instead, he says: nationalism should be promoted in general, so in Hungary, in Germany, in France. - Very well! He is not concerned with Americanism; he is not a patriot, but he sees in this insistence of people on nationalism something which, when it then interacts with the most diverse nations, then achieves what he wants to achieve: namely, to bring people absolutely into chaos. That is what he wants: he wants to bring everything into chaos! There is pure destructive rage in it. And so the Ku Klux Klan is particularly dangerous because it can spread in all countries. And you cannot say that if it wants to spread here in Switzerland, it is an American institution, but rather it is a national Swiss institution.

And so were basically the Masonic alliances; they were international, but for the individual countries always nationalist. But they did not pay much attention to that, but they did it more to the outside world, that they joined in with what was going on in the outside world. And now one can say: But are not such people actually insane, who want to stir up something like an absolutely nationalist principle, and who want to destroy everything there? You can't really say that either. Of course, when you ask, it is said: Of course you don't do such things. But people say to themselves: It's all so corrupt today – the leaders say this to the others who follow – it's all the same to the others, so it makes no sense to cultivate the things that are there today. You first have to treat humanity like a confused mass. Then people will come to their senses again, and then they will learn something proper. People do have an idea, namely the Ku Klux Klan has an idea in this regard.

You mean: not?

The questioner: Yes! But that's strange!

Dr. Steiner: You see, many things in cultural life are strange, and we have already mentioned things that looked strange. But the strange is sometimes quite dangerous. It seems strange to you, but sometimes it is extraordinarily dangerous.

Well, gentlemen, tomorrow during the day I have to travel again – to Breslau. I will then say when we will have the next lesson.