The Mission of Esoteric Science in Our Time

Those who, without being clairvoyant themselves, understand everything that secret science has to say are initiates. But those who can enter these worlds, which we call invisible, are clairvoyants. In ancient times, which are not so long ago, there was a strict separation between clairvoyants and initiates in the secret schools. As an initiate, without being clairvoyant, one could ascend to the knowledge of the higher worlds if one applied one's intellect in the right way. On the other hand, one could be clairvoyant without being particularly highly initiated. You will already understand what this means. Imagine two people, a very learned gentleman who knows everything there is to know about physics and physiology in relation to light and light phenomena, but who is so short-sighted that he can hardly see ten centimeters ahead: he does not see much, but he is initiated into the laws of light. In the same way, someone can be initiated into the supersensible world and yet have poor vision in it. Another may see excellently in the outer sensory world, but know as good as nothing of what the learned gentleman knows. So there may also be clairvoyants whose spiritual eyes are open to the spiritual worlds. They can look into the spiritual world, but have no science, no knowledge of it. That is why, for a long time, a distinction has been made between the clairvoyant and the initiate. In order to embrace the fullness of life, it was often necessary to have not one but many people. Some were not made clairvoyant in order to progress. Others were given spiritual eyes and ears. What was present in secret science came about through communication and the exchange of ideas between secret scientists and clairvoyants.