{"corpus":"steiner","locus":"GA 107/1909-01-01/p040","lang":"en","edition":"English","edition_basis":null,"is_original":false,"is_default_edition":true,"text":"If a man is able to walk about on his two legs, you can deprive him of this faculty not only by amputating his legs but also by shutting him up in a cell; then he can no longer walk about. In the same way there are hindrances to occult investigation and in the domain of which we are speaking they are immensely powerful. I will tell you one of the main hindrances and in doing so introduce you to a mysterious relationship. The greatest hindrance to occult investigation in this domain is constituted by the methods and trend of modern materialistic science. The countless illusions and fallacies accumulating in materialistic science to-day, all the research that is not only futile but is prompted by the vanities of men—these are things which in their effects in the higher worlds make investigation into these manifestations and free vision in the higher world impossible or to say the least, extremely difficult. Free vision is clouded as a result of the materialistic research pursued here on earth. It is by no means easy to get to the root of these things. But only wait for the time when spiritual science has become more widespread and when through its influence the materialistic superstitions prevailing in our world will be swept away! Once the nonsensical analogies and hypotheses leading to all kinds of conjectures about the interior of the earth are cast aside, you will see that when spiritual science has itself been integrated into the karma of humanity, when it finds the way to men's souls and is able from there to overcome the opposing powers and materialistic superstitions, when further research can be made into all that is connected with the bitterest foe of mankind, that Being who fetters man's vision within the world of sense—you will see that it will then be possible, even externally, to influence the karma of humanity in the sense that the dire results of such happenings may be alleviated. The reason why the Initiates must be silent about happenings connected with the great karma of humanity is to be found in the materialistic superstitions of men. Many scientific pursuits are in no way imbued with the Faustian striving for truth but prompted entirely by vanity and ambition. How much scientific research is promoted in the world simply because an individual is seeking for something that will be to his personal advantage! If you sum up all these things you will realize the strength of the force that obstructs vision into the world behind the external phenomena of the material world. Not until this fog has been cleared away will the time come when, in respect of certain mysterious manifestations of nature emanating from the foes of mankind and trespassing deeply into human life, it will be possible for help—and then in no small measure—to be given to mankind. Until that time comes there is no such possibility.","text_trust":"verbatim","quote_safe":true,"title":"II. Mephistopheles and Earthquakes","site_heading":null,"date":"1909-01-01","location":null,"word_count":490,"url":"https://anthroposophy.ai/v1/steiner/en/ga/107/1909-01-01/p040","alignment_confidence":"high","alignment_reason":"beads:length","two_voice_volume":false,"translation_credit":{"scope":"unit","status":"established","translator":"Dorothy S. Osmond","identified_edition":"AP1954","book_title":"The Deed of Christ and the Opposing Spiritual Powers","publisher":"Anthroposophic Press","publisher_inferred":true,"match_score":1.0,"source_url":"https://www.rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA107/English/AP1954/19090101p01.html","evidence":"lecture_page_line","publisher_note":"The publisher is inferred from the edition code in this lecture's source URL, not stated by the source page. The translator IS verified for this lecture: its own source names the translator (evidence: the lecture's page, rsarchive's lecture list, or the cover of the book it was published in), and that page's text was matched against this unit (see match_score and source_url). Cite the translator with confidence; attribute the publisher only as probable."},"edition_coverage":{"de":["original"],"en":["English"]},"available_versions":[{"lang":"en","edition":"English","edition_basis":null,"is_original":false,"is_default_edition":true,"url":"https://anthroposophy.ai/v1/steiner/en/ga/107/1909-01-01/p040","paragraph_aligned":true}],"record":{"record_type":"unknown","scope":"volume","note":"How this text was taken down (shorthand transcript, listeners' notes or manuscript) is not on record here. Unknown is not an assurance of a stenogram: check the edition's own notes before resting an argument on one word.","evidence":null,"evidence_translation":null,"evidence_source":null},"german_anchor":{"de_prefix":"1909-01-01","de_passages":[{"locus":"GA 107/1909-01-01/p036","url":"https://anthroposophy.ai/v1/steiner/de/ga/107/1909-01-01/p036"}],"bead_confidence":"high","pairing_state":"proposed","verified":false,"length_check":{"de_words":504,"en_words":490,"ratio":0.97,"partial":false},"correspondence":"established","note":"English passage numbering is edition-relative, so the same number need not name the same paragraph in the German. The German original passage(s) above are the edition-invariant anchor — fetch them (lang='de') to verify wording before quoting across editions."},"paired_german":{"status":"paired","german":[{"locus":"GA 107/1909-01-01/p036","passage_number":36,"text":"Sie können einem Menschen, der die Fähigkeit hat, physisch zu gehen mit seinen beiden Beinen, diese Fähigkeit nicht bloß dadurch nehmen, daß Sie ihm die Beine abschneiden, sondern auch dadurch, daß Sie ihn einsperren; dann kann er nicht herumgehen. Ebenso gibt es auch Hindernisse für okkulte Untersuchungen, und auf dem Gebiete, wovon wir sprechen, gibt es in der Tat gewaltige Hindernisse. Und eines der Haupthindernisse möchte ich Ihnen jetzt anführen. Ich will Sie hinführen auf einen geheimnisvollen Zusammenhang. Das größte Hindernis, das für die okkulten Forschungen auf diesem Gebiete besteht, das ist die gegenwärtige Art und Weise, wie heute materialistisch äußere Wissenschaft getrieben wird. Alles wasan Unsummen von Illusionen, von Irrtümern heute in der materialistischen Wissenschaft aufgehäuft wird, all die unwürdigen Untersuchungen, die gemacht werden und die nicht nur zu nichts führen, sondern eigentlich nur aus der Eitelkeit der Menschen hervorgehen, das sind Dinge, die in ihren Wirkungen in den höheren Welten die Untersuchungen in diesen höheren Welten über solche Erscheinungen, den freien Ausblick geradezu unmöglich machen oder wenigstens sehr schwierig. Der freie Ausblick wird gerade dadurch getrübt, daß hier auf der Erde die materialistische Forschung vorgeht. Diese Dinge kann man gar nicht einmal so ohne weiteres überschauen. Ich möchte sagen: Lassen Sie erst einmal die Zeit kommen, in der die Geisteswissenschaft sich mehr ausbreiten wird und in der durch die Geisteswissenschaft und ihren Einfluß hinweggefegt wird der materialistische Aberglaube unserer Welt! Gerade das sinnlose Kombinieren und Hypothesen-Aufstellen, wobei man alles mögliche dann in das Innere der Erde hineinphantasiert - lassen Sie das alles hinweggefegt sein und Sie werden sehen: Wenn die Geisteswissenschaft sich erst einmal einfügen wird selber als ein Schicksal in das Menschheitskarma, wenn sie die Mittel und Wege finden wird, die Seelen zu ergreifen, und auf diesem Wege die gegnerischen Kräfte, den materialistischen Aberglauben wird besiegen können, wenn das, was mit dem ärgsten Feinde der Menschheit zusammenhängt, der den menschlichen Blick in die Sinneswelt hinein fesselt, weiter erforscht werden kann, dann werden Sie sehen, daß dann auch die Möglichkeit geboten werden wird, auch äußerlich auf das Menschheitskarma zu wirken, indem das Furchtbare solcher Ereignisse abgemildert wird. Suchen Sie in dem materialistischen Aberglauben der Menschen die Gründe, warum die Eingeweihten schweigen müssen über diejenigen Ereignisse, die mit dem großen Menschheitskarma zusammenhängen. Wir sehen einen wissenschaftlichen Betrieb, der vielfach nicht von dem faustischen Streben nach der Wahrheit beherrscht wird, sondern im umfänglichsten Maße mit Eitelkeit und Ehrsucht zusammenhängt. Wie vieles wird an wissenschaftlichen Forschungen dadurch in die Welt gesetzt, weil der einzelne nur etwas sucht für seine eigene Person. Wenn Sie das alles summieren, dann werden Sie sehen, wie stark die Kraft ist, die sich ausbreitet gegen den Ausblick in diejenige Welt, die sich hinter den äußeren sinnlichen Erscheinungen verbirgt. Wenn die Menschheit erst diesen Nebel wegschafft, dann wird die Zeit gekommen sein, in welcher in bezug auf gewisse geheimnisvolle Naturerscheinungen, die von den Feinden der Menschheit ausgehen und tief eingreifen in das menschliche Leben, der Menschheit in einem gewissen Grade umfänglich wird geholfen werden können. Bis dahin ist diese Möglichkeit nicht vorhanden.","text_trust":"verbatim","quote_safe":true,"word_count":504,"url":"https://anthroposophy.ai/v1/steiner/de/ga/107/1909-01-01/p036"}],"english":["GA 107/1909-01-01/p040"],"method":"length","confidence":"high","correspondence":"established","length_check":{"de_words":504,"en_words":490,"ratio":0.97,"partial":false},"pairing_state":"proposed","verified":false},"witness_completeness":{"ratio":0.95,"band":"comparable","note":null,"word_count":7750,"original_word_count":8170,"may_be_abridged":false},"witness_quality":{"translator":{"scope":"unit","status":"recorded","translator":"Dorothy S. Osmond","identified_edition":"AP1954","book_title":"The Deed of Christ and the Opposing Spiritual Powers","publisher":"Anthroposophic Press","publisher_inferred":true,"match_score":1.0,"source_url":"https://www.rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA107/English/AP1954/19090101p01.html","evidence":"lecture_page_line","publisher_note":"The publisher is inferred from the edition code in this lecture's source URL, not stated by the source page. The translator IS verified for this lecture: its own source names the translator (evidence: the lecture's page, rsarchive's lecture list, or the cover of the book it was published in), and that page's text was matched against this unit (see match_score and source_url). Cite the translator with confidence; attribute the publisher only as probable."},"entity_parity":{"status":"ok","checked_against":["GA 107/1909-01-01/p036"],"missing_from_translation":[],"present_only_in_translation":[],"bead_confidence":"high","note":"Every load-bearing name in the German counterpart appears in this English passage. That is a check on NAMES only: a translation can keep every name and still reverse who acts on whom, change a number, or soften a claim. Read the German for anything you intend to rest an argument on."},"note":"quote_safe certifies the bytes of this text. This block is about the translation as a WITNESS: who made it, and whether it carries the same names as the original. See witness_completeness for how much of the original this witness holds."}}