The School of Spiritual Science V

The members of the school will, if the conditions set out are accepted by them, make the Anthroposophical Society what only its existence can give it. The starting point of the school's work will have to be the Goetheanum. Initially, the work to be done by the school will have to be carried out here. But ways and means will also be found for the members of the school scattered throughout the world to participate fully. This will not be achieved by a rush to obtain transcripts of everything said at the Goetheanum in every possible way. We experienced the development of such a rush when, about a year ago, the slogan was issued that new life had to come into the society.

We will not advance by such impetuosity. On Friday, February 15, I will give my first lecture at the Goetheanum for the School of Spiritual Science. Those members who have been provisionally notified of their admission to the School by the Executive Council will be present. Those who have applied for admission and have not yet been notified do not need to consider themselves as not accepted. The whole structure of the School, including membership, will only develop gradually.

But as the School's work progresses, it will also become clear how the Goetheanum itself must ensure that the work can be disseminated. The means and ways will also be sought where the School's center is to be created. One will then turn to those individuals and groups in a possible way that announce that they are seeking membership. But we should bear in mind that we at the Goetheanum cannot cope if existing institutions simply say: We are here and we now want to join the Goetheanum and its School for Spiritual Science. This statement as such is of course good, and everything that happens in this direction will be warmly welcomed by the leadership at the Goetheanum. But it must not be understood to mean: We are coming to you at this moment, so transform us to be members of the School of Spiritual Science. This could lead to everyone continuing to do what they have been doing so far, only baptizing it in the name of this School.

What is achieved at the Goetheanum through the work of the Executive Council can only gradually flow into the individual institutions. This Executive Council should not see its task as “organizing”, but rather as working. Then it will be its task to bring the results of its work to those who want them in the best possible way. No matter how well one organizes, in a society such as the anthroposophical one, nothing has actually been achieved by it. Such a society lives only through the work that is done in it. The best guarantee for the society's prosperity lies in the participation of all its members in the work at the Goetheanum. And the executive council will endeavor to make everything that is done by the members the society's concern.