Lecture I

GA 90a/1904-10-10/p011 ·1904-10-10 · English LowLow alignmentMost translators re-paragraphed Steiner substantially. The locus identifies the same chapter or section, but paragraph-N to paragraph-N mapping is loose. For exact-quotation precision, compare with the German.
Record: listeners' notes. Written from listeners' notes, summaries, or memory rather than a shorthand transcript. The wording is the note-taker's as much as Steiner's: weigh a single striking phrase here far more cautiously than the same phrase in a stenographic volume, and do not rest an argument on one word. Evidence: «Frühe Vortragsreihen und Einzelvorträge für Mitglieder in Berlin 1903–1904 nach ausführlichen und z.T. fragmentarischen Mitschriften.» (Early lecture series and single lectures for members in Berlin 1903-1904, from detailed and in part fragmentary listeners' transcripts.). The publisher's description of the volume, as mirrored on AnthroWiki (GA 90a); the description calls them "Hörermitschriften", and the served text carries the note-taker's gap marker "[Lücke in der Mitschrift]". The translation is the maintainer's, not a published one.

These three designations: Eagle, Lion, Bull, apply to definite and successive stages of the evolution of Humanity. One who is initiated in certain Mystery Schools learns to understand a certain language and script, in which those who have knowledge of the all-embracing truths express their experiences. It is a language which all Initiates on the earth write and speak, a symbolic language, a symbolic form of speech. Everyone who has learned it, understands it, and when he finds a particular sign in ancient records knows that it has a definite meaning. In the course of some of these lectures, I shall speak of some of these signs, of the most elementary of them. A sign frequently used to designate these stages of human evolution is that of two interlacing triangles which together form a six-sided figure. Below lies a triangle which symbolises the previous conditions. The three angles are not filled; they signify the three original conditions of man. In the middle is the real man. This enduring entity which passes through the incarnations remains through all the stages. That is what is designated as Man. So, here you have the four modes of being through which man becomes man in the course of his evolution. They are indicated in the two interlacing triangles. If you study this sign you will understand why these four Beasts are mentioned whenever an Apocalyptist is speaking about these stages of evolution. They also appear in the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel. In the Apocalypse of St. John they are described in a very special way.

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Cite: GA 90a/1904-10-10/p011 · edition English