Incarnation of Lucifer and Ahriman

Differentation of Primeval Wisdom into East, Middle, West

November 14, 1919 Dornach From our last lectures you will have seen how man comes to a kind of illusory idea of the outer world; but as a matter of fact, what are usually understood as the connections of nature are inwardly dependent on humanity itself; and we can only gain a true view of the world when we consider the earth and indeed the universe, in its entirety which means when we regard man as being part of the world and visualise the interchange, the inter-relation between man and the world !therwise we always come to an unreal, a mere abstract grasp of the mineral kingdom; at most understanding something of the plant and animal worlds, which no longer play any strong part in the present concept of nature "hen one speaks of the connections of nature, it is, as a rule, merely the mineral connections in nature to which one refers #o these, if one so desires, that short episode which one calls $istory, is added; but as a truth of %uite a different nature From this view, which does not e&tend to man in his real being, humanity in our present age has to come right away From diverse points of view we have brought forward the reason why humanity must abandon this view of things, a view which, as you know, has in a sense been necessarily developed in the last three or four centuries #o-day ' will only mention that human beings, with reference to their e&ternal knowledge, their e&ternal cognition, will become more and more dependent on the physical body with its necessities, unless they can rise in their own evolution to the production of a higher knowledge, through the very effort of their own "ill (nd in the future it is a %uestion of this)- either humanity will simply succumb to a view of the world gained by remaining *ust as one was at birth, ac%uiring no other concepts than those one has already through being placed on the earth through birth, and by means of the ordinary education customary to-day #hat is the one possibility #he other is this) #hat humanity will cease to believe that, simply from being +orn as human beings on earth, they can *udge of everything real; and they will then be able to build up a real evolution of man, such as is indicated by ,piritual ,cience #hat is the other path; humanity will have to traverse this latter path, otherwise the earth simply faces its downfall "hat ' have *ust said, can also be observed geographically, when it ac%uires a %uite special significance for the present 'f we only go far enough back in the evolution of the earth, we find man is not rooted in earthly e&istence itself; for before the evolution of the earth, he had already undergone a long previous development -ou find this evolution described 'n my Outline of Occult Science -ou know that man was, in a sense taken back again into a pure ,piritual e&istence, and from this pure ,piritual e&istence, he has descended to earthly e&istence .ow it is a fact that, because of this descent of man into earthly e&istence, there has been taken away from humanity, a comprehensive, one might call it an inherited "isdom a primeval "isdom, which was of such a nature that it was one and the same, uniform, for the whole of humanity -ou will find such things described in more detail in those lectures which ' have called The Folk-Souls, a course given in /hristiania ,o this inherited "isdom was a uniform thing "hen ' naw speak of knowledge, ' mean not merely that which is usually called knowledge in ,cience to-day, but everything which man can absorb in his soul life as a view of his cosmic environment and of his own life .ow this primeval knowledge specialised itself in such a way that it became different according to the different territories of the earth -ou will see this better if you go into those chapters in Occult

Science dealing with this matter +ut even e&ternally, if you *ust look at what we call the civilisation of the different earthly races, you may say) #hat what the human beings of the different races upon earth have known, differed from the beginning !ne can distinguish an 'ndian civilisation, a /hinese civilisation, a 0apanese civilisation, a 1uropean civilisation (nd again, in this 1uropean civilisation there is a special culture of its own for each of the various 1uropean territories #hen we have an (merican civilisation and so on +ut if we ask) $ow it it that this primeval or inherited wisdom became specialised, how did it become ever more and more differentiated2 "e must answer) #he inner relationships, the inner dispositions of these races were to blame for this 'ndeed we find that there is always an adaptation of the inner relationship of the different races to the e&ternal conditions of the earth "e can to some e&tent get an idea of this differentiation if we try to find out the connection between, let us say, what forms the 'ndian civilisation and the climatic geographical conditions of the land of 'ndia 'n the same way we can get an idea of the special nature of the 3ussian culture, if we consider the relationship between the 3ussian and his earth .ow we must say, in reference to these relationships, that humanity to-day as indeed in many other connections has arrived at a kind of crisis #his dependence of man on his territory gradually, in the course of the 19th century, increased to the utmost conceivable e&tent !f course, it is true that human beings have emancipated themselves from their territories #hat is true they consciously have emancipated themselves from their territories; but they are nevertheless dependent in a certain way upon these territories #e can see that if we compare, let us say, the attitude of a 4reek to ancient 4reece, and say that of a modern 1nglishman or 4erman to their countries #he 4reeks still had much of the ancient wisdom in their civilisation and education, they were perhaps more physically dependent upon their land of 4reece than the modern human being on his country +ut this stronger dependence was modified, because the 4reeks were inwardly filled with this ancient wisdom #his wisdom has however gradually faded away from humanity, and we can point almost e&actly to the time in the middle of the 15th century when the direct understanding for certain treasures of wisdom ceases, and how even the traditions of such treasures gradually faded away in the 19th century (rtificially, as ' might say, like plants in a forcing house, certain of these treasures were still preserved in all sorts of secret societies, which sometimes pursued very evil practices with them +ut such societies still preserved a primeval wisdom even in the 19th century 6'n the 19th century it was somewhat different7, but in the 19th century they still preserved some things of which one can say) #hey are like plants in a forcing house "hat have the symbols of the Freemasons to do with the ancient wisdom from which they originated2 #hey are like plants raised in the forcing house, compared with plants growing freely in nature .ot even so much likeness still remains between the masonic symbols and that ancient wisdom8 0ust because humanity is losing that inner permeation with this old wisdom, men are really becoming all the more dependent upon their territories and unless they can again ac%uire a treasure of ,piritual ,cience which can develop freely, they will be differentiated all over the earth according to their territories (s a matter of fact, we can distinguish three types which we have studied already from other points of view #o-day we can say that unless the impulses of ,piritual ,cience are spread abroad in the world, from the "est there will come none but economic truths, which can indeed produce many other things out of their bosom; none but economic thought and ideas would prevail in the "est From the 1ast there would come over what once were essentially ,piritual truths; (sia,, even if in very decadent ways, would confine itself more and more to ,piritual truths /entral 1urope would cultivate the more intellectual sphere; and this would make itself specially felt in the uniting of something of the traditions of ancient times with what streams over from the "est as economic truths, and with what streams over from the 1ast as ,piritual truths $uman beings living in these three main types of earthly division, would specialise more and more in this direction #he tendency of our present age tends absolutely towards making this specialisation of humanity a really dominant principle "e can say, my dear friends and ' beg you to take this

very seriously, that unless a ,piritual ,cientific impulse permeates the world, the 1ast will gradually become absolutely incapable of managing its own 1conomic 9ife, of developing its own economic thinking #he 1ast would come into a position of being able to produce only; that means, of actually cultivating the soil, of working upon the immediate products of nature with the instruments transmitted from the "est +ut all that has to be administered by human reason, would develop in the "est From this point of view the catastrophe of the "orld "ar which has *ust run its course, is nothing but the beginning of the tendency) 6' will e&press it in popular phraseology7 to permeate the 1ast by the "est in an economic way #hat means making the 1ast a sphere in which people work, and the "est a sphere in which economic use is made of what is derived from nature in the 1ast #he boundary between the 1ast and the "est need not be a fi&ed one; it is moveable 'f this tendency which is dominant to-day, goes further, if it is not permeated ,piritually, then without any doubt at all the following would have to arise !ne need simply utter it hypothetically #he entire 1ast would economically be an ob*ect of booty for the "est; and man would regard this course of development as the proper course laid down for earthly humanity 't would be regarded as %uite *ustifiable and obvious #here exists no other means of introducing into this tendency that which does not make half of humanity slaves and the other half employers of these slaves, than by permeating the earth with a common ,pirituality which man must ac%uire once more 'f one utters these things to-day most people prefer to re*ect them #he man of to-day is only too inclined to wave these things aside with a movement of his hand, for the simple reason that it is e&ternally uncomfortable for him to face the true reality $e says to himself) :"ell, even if this economic permeation of the 1ast does come about, it will not take place yet awhile, not in my lifetime ; /ertainly those who have children, do think a little more earnestly, because of their children; but then they like to fog themselves a little in the hope that better times may come, and so forth +ut to realise in their inner being that there e&ists no other means of fashioning the future of humanity into a form worthy of human beings, than by not permeating merely the earth economically, but also ,piritually is a thought very few people pursue for themselves to-day, because of a certain love of ease "e may say that humanity has received the present configuration of its life of civilisation from three sides, and it is e&tremely interesting to fi& one<s mind on these three sides of this earthly life of civilisation, especially for the task we have set ourselves in these lectures 'f one surveys the whole earth-sphere from 1ast to "est, one must say) :1verything which man possesses in the way of ethical truths, of moral truths, has come from the 1ast; !ne can say that the form in which the 1ast, with its general view of the /osmos, has developed its ethical truths, the form of its general cosmology, and 1 so on, has now been lost; but certain 1thics have remained over as relics of oriental thought and feeling 't is infinitely interesting from this point of view to read the speeches which 3abindranath #agore held, which are collected under the title of Nationalism -ou will see if you read these speeches that there is hardly anything now to be found in them of that great /osmic "isdom teaching, which at one time, lived in the feelings of men in the 1ast +ut one who can read with understanding these speeches of #agore collected under the title Nationalism will say) the moral pathos which lives in them and which indeed is the chief essence of these speeches, the ethical will which lives in them, that bitter moral criticism which e&ercised against the individual mechanism of the "est, and against all the still more evil political mechanism of the "est, lives as 1thos in these speeches of #agore, could not have been uttered unless there stood behind them the ancient primeval wisdom of (sia; even though it no longer lives e&ternally in men<s consciousness "ith that wisdom, created out of the stars, the moral truths were permeated which resound from out of the 1ast, and this comes to us when such people as 3abindranath #agore speak

'f, without pre*udice, one investigates everything which has developed in this way of culture in the "est, in /entral 1urope, one must say) "hat lives there, whether it be in philosophers or nonphilosophers, in the simple or most educated that which ethically and morally permeates the humanity of the "est has all trickled over from the 1ast, from (sia #he 1ast is the real home of 1thos, of ethics 'f we now 9ook towards the "est, the civilisation of which has transpired before the eye of history, we see how muck enters into the consideration of the reasoning, intellectual working-man, of world phenomena #here what rests an the principle of utility comes into consideration #here is a great contrast, of which humanity should become aware, between what lives as pathos in the speeches of #agore, and everything which develops in the "est as the stand-point of utility #o speak radically, one might say, that the sort of thing we meet with in philosophers such as 0ohn ,tuart =ill, or in national economists such as (dam ,mith or intellectual philosophers such as +ergson, anything of this nature remains for the (siatic, even if he tries to understand it, something which lies completely outside his being $e can grasp as an interesting fact that such things are said by human beings, but he will never be tempted to produce things which relate simply to e&ternal human utility, from out of his own nature #he (siatic thoroughly despises the 1uropean and (merican nature, because it always refers him to the standpoint of utility, which can only be dominated with the intellect, with the understanding ,o it has come about that this way of thinking, which is connected with the idea of utility, is above all the product of the "est (s ' have previously drawn your attention to the fact that over the earth the ancient wisdom, has specialised itself according to 3aces, so we can now distinguish these great types #he ethical type in the !rient, in the 1ast; the intellectual utilitarian type in the "est, the !ccident, while in between there is, always trying to press forward, what ' want to call the third type, the (esthetic, which is *ust as much characteristic of /entral 1urope, as the ethical type is of the 1ast and the utilitarian type of the "est "e need merely remind ourselves of a certain phenomenon, in order to be able to bring forward a proof drawn from e&ternal facts) how it is that *ust in /entral 1urope this (esthetic type seeks to make itself felt "hile in the "est the French 3evolution partially raged and partially bore its conse%uences, and the 1ast was still immersed in ,piritual dreams, we see e g ,chiller writing his letters concerning the aesthetic education of man #hese are directly concerned with the French 3evolution, but they seek to solve the problem thrown up politically by the French 3evolution, they seek to solve it humanistically, in a purely human way #hey seek to make man inwardly a free human being 't is interesting to note that the whole method of observation of ,chiller in those (esthetic letters rests an this) that on the one side he re*ects the pure utilitarian intellectual standpoint, and an the other he re*ects the merely ethical standpoint -ou see, this ethical standpoint had once already been rationalised, intellectualised 1verything in the world goes through different metamorphosis and then reappears in another form (nd so although this ethical standpoint of the 1ast is certainly not intellectual, yet one can grasp it with one<s intellect, one can intellectualise it, one can 6>?nigsbergerise7 it, and it then becomes >antian #hat happened; and from >ant there comes this beautiful saying) :@uty, thou mighty, e&alted name, thou hast nothing within thee of an attractive or insinuating nature, but re%uirest solely and simply the sub*ection of man to morality; ,chiller an the other hand, said, :' gladly serve my friends, yet unfortunately ' do so with inclination #herefore ' reproach myself that ' am not virtuous; ,chiller as a real /entral-1uropean man, could not take into himself this >antian, this >?nigsbergian intellectualising of ethics For him no man was a complete human being who had first to sub*ect himself to duty in order to fulfil his duty For ,chiller a man was only a complete human being who felt in himself the desire to do what was of moral value #herefore ,chiller re*ected the ethical rigourism of a >ant +ut he also re*ected

the purely intellectual principle of authority, and he saw in the production and en*oyment of +eauty, 6thus in the (esthetic behavior of man7, the highest, free e&pression of human nature $e wrote his (esthetic letters, one might say, as a personal description of 4oethe ,chiller had only with difficulty struggled to ac%uire an appreciation of 4oethe $e had started with *ealousy, with inner antipathy to 4oethe; and one may say that there was a time in ,chiller<s youth when any talk of 4oethe left a bitter taste in his mouth #hen they became ac%uainted; and they learnt not only to honour each other, but to understand each other #hen ,chiller wrote one might say as a kind of ,piritual biography, a ,piritual description of 4oethe, his letters upon the (esthetic education of man .othing which stands in these (esthetic letters could have been written unless 4oethe had previously lived a life which was to ,chiller an e&ample of what stands in them ,chiller wrote a letter to 4oethe at the beginning of their friendship which ' have often %uoted) :For a long time ' have followed the path of your life, although from a far distance ; (nd now he described 4oethe, according to his spirit, which was really that of a reincarnated 4reek; and we see how the first dawn of the (esthetic spirit of /entral 1urope is united with 4reece (nd now as regards 4oethe, we see how he works his way up from an intellectual element, to a recognition of truth, which can be *ust as well understood through art as through science 'f you follow how 4oethe with $erder studied the 1thics of ,pinoAa, how 4oethe then went to 'taly and wrote home that, in the works of art which he sees proceeding out of the 4reek spirit, he sees Necessity, he sees God then one must say, the intellectualism of ,pinoAa becomes (esthetic in 4oethe, on his 'talian *ourney, in the contemplation of those works of art 4oethe bears testimony that the 4reeks created their works of art according to the same laws which nature herself follows, laws which 4oethe believed he was now on the track of #hat means, 4oethe is not of the opinion that when a man creates a work of art he is merely creating a thing of phantasy ,cience is strictly true .o, 4oethe was of the opinion that what lies in a true work of art absolutely gives the deeper, true, content of the life of .ature .ow that is an (esthetic view of the world, and so we must say) !ccident, "est intellectualistic utilitarian; /entral earth-regions (esthetic; the 1ast ethical, moral 't is absolutely true, my dear friends, that wherever it be, whether in the past or in the /entre or in the lest, wherever ethical truths have appeared they have originally sprung up from the 1ast 't is no matter whether utilitarian truths spring up in the /entre, or in the 1ast they all originally spring from the "est +eauty arises from the /entral region !ne can follow everywhere the path of these three elements in the life of man in this way, down to the very details -ou see, my dear friends, when through one<s karma one is destined to found (nthroposophy in /entral 1urope, then in this (nthroposophy something must live of that 4oethe-faith, which is after all, the same element that lives in art; that is, the element of truth #hat same element which is e&pressed in painting, in sculpture, and even in architecture must live also in the thought structure of truth !ne must come to say, what ' attempted to say in the first chapter of my Philoso hy of S iritual !ctivity that the philosopher, the man who founds a "orld-conception, must be an artist in ideas !ne usually re*ects the concepts of an artist of ideas 'n that book ' had to accept it; it all sprang from one and the same spirit "hen one produces something of this kind, all the ideas one e&presses have a definite character, which bear the colourings of what ' have *ust described +ooks are written, form instance, much as that bit (ime +lech, which recently appeared as a Bamphlet, containing all kinds of evil, consciously evil calumnies +ooks are written in which, for instance, it is stated that in what is brought forward from this side as (nthroposophy, there are, of course many beautiful things, but they are opposed to the clarity of the French mind8 /ertainly (nthroposophy contradicts intellectuality, the barren, rhetorical grasp of ideas; such minds would much prefer the coarse, material ideas which can be grasped in sharp outlines, so as one can follow these things down to the minutest details ' could bring forward many an e&ample, entering into details which would make clear what ' have shown you in general outline; but ' will

rest content with the e&ample ' have already given you, which is a very interesting one .ow the point in %uestion is that we should clearly realise that e g in the "est morality, art and intellectualism are simply not being produced .o8 (rt, is taken over from the /entral regions, and 1thics, from the 1ast; and they are then inserted into the intellectual-utility-element, *ust as in the /entre a kind of ethical element is cultivated, and everything which has been taken up, especially in the 19th century into the (esthetic element has come over from the "est 't would be interesting to follow for once the path of biology from this point of view 'f you read 4oethe<s Theory of "etamor hosis to-day, you can find in that a grand theory of evolution, but the "est would always consider that theory spoilt by its (estheticism 'n the 19th century, over the entire earth which is dependent an the "est, the @arwinistic element penetrated into the theory of evolution, and brought in the Ctilitarian-standpoint, the doctrine of purpose, of aim -ou find that doctrine of :purpose; entirely e&cluded in 4oethe, because he is everywhere permeated by (estheticism 't must not be the case in the future, that men are thus economically differentiated, as it were, to such an e&treme degree that they will not learn from each other +ecause that would mean that there would gradually spread over (sia a certain 1thos, such as one finds advocated in the fire-sounding words of 3abindranath #agore 'n /entral 1urope there would sp read in another form that which certain .ietAsche-fops have already advocated a certain :+eyond-ness; of good and evil, a certain (estheticism, even in moral ideas "e see here the triumphant march of this (estheticising making itself felt, especially towards the end of the 19th century (nd then the merely utilitarian standpoint would pour out over the "est, cleverness in the utilitarian standpoint, a caricature of the ,piritual element from the utilitarian standpoint, etc , etc #he permeation of humanity by a real ,piritual element can alone help mankind "e assume, of course, that this ,piritual element shall be taken in full earnestness that men shall develop the will to regard things as they present themselves to-day to one who is really prepared to be unpre*udiced #his "ar-/atastrophe has brought many e&traordinary things to the surface, amongst which are phenomena, which are in part uncomfortable to the highest degree, but which can teach us much, ' will mention one such phenomenon 'n the 4erman literature of the day there appear one simply cannot keep pace with what comes out in this way but almost every week there appear slimy e&cretions, as ' must call them the e&planations of different men concerning their share in the course of the "ar and of political events and we can read what such heads ' say e&pressly such heads as 'agow +ethmann 6=ichaelis has, ' think, still spared us7, #irpitA, 9udendorf, and a whole row of others which one can name 't is unpleasant, in one way,to read this stuff, but from another point of view, it is interesting to the highest degree -ou see, one can read such books as those written by +ethmann or #irpitA, from %uite opposite points of view +ut their points of view depend very often an whether the author has been treated with the toe or the heel of the boot for a certain time +ethmann was favoured for a time by the :(ll $ighest;, whereas #irpitA was treated with the heel of the boot $ence their different points of view8 (nd so we will enter further into the view-point; it is not so much a %uestion of that, but of seeing what spirit lives in the writings .ow one can e&perience the following) ' once made the following e&periment (fter allowing myself to be saturated with the dreamy writings of +ethmann and #irpitA, ' turned back to certain utterances 6very dear to me;, of $erman 4rimm, which indeed have been found chauvinistic by non-4ermans +ut again that is *ust a point of view 't is simply a %uestion with me of the spirit which lives in them (t the first view one can put this %uestion) $ow does the spirit, the way of thinking, the inner soul-constitution of the +ethmann and #irpitA writings compare with what lives in $erman 4rimm<s political observations2 $ere we must say) $erman 4rimm felt that 4oethe had lived and had not lived in vain; to him he was a living presence #o, +ethmann and #irpitA 4oethe was not there '

will not say they had not read him, it might have been better if they had left him unread; but as far as they were concerned he was not there (nd at first ' had to say to myself; what stands in these books sounds as if it were written by a medieval serf with the logic of a medieval ,erf 1specially interesting, for instance, is the logic of 9udendorf $e is the one who was so greatly praised for the idea of having 9enin transported in a sealed wagon, through 4ermany to 3ussia8 9udendorf is the real importer of +olehevism into 3ussia8 .ow he simply had not the cheek to deny that in his book, although he had cheek enough for many things ,o he says, that to send 9enin to 3ussia was a military necessity, and that the political government should have avoided the evil conse%uences, but did not do so ,uch is the logic of these gentlemen +ut ' do not wish to assert that /lemenceau has better logic; and ' beg you not to think that ' take sides with any Barty .either 9loyd 4eorge nor "ilson have any better logic #his, however, is not so easy to substantiate !ne may say that at first sight, but the matter goes further !ne finds on comparing things that one must go further back still (n e&traordinary similarity e&ists between the #irpitA and 9udendorf way of thinking, and those human beings who guided the so-called civilisation of 3ome in the 1st and Dnd pre-/hristian centuries (nd if we wish to establish an intimate community of soul between these, we may say that it is as if the old method of thought of the ancient pre-/hristian 3ome again appeared, and as if everything which has happened since then, including /hristianity itself, 6even if these gentlemen e&ternally speak of /hrist, and so on7, had never taken place -ou see, it is often supposed, when one says of the 9uciferic that it remained behind in humanity that one means something only e&ternal to the world +ut this principle of remaining behind, e&presses itself %uite strongly within the world !ne can say the pre-/aesar greatness of old 3ome has re-arisen in such people, and everything which has happened in 1urope since that time is really non-e&istent for them =y dear friends, this phenomenon must be observed in an unpre*udiced way to-day 't must be kept in mind; because only by so doing can one win a strong standpoint for *udging the present #his present age makes great demands on man<s capacity for *udgment (ll this must be said, if one speaks of how necessary it is that the present age should be permeated by ,piritual impulses ,uperficially considered it is easy to say the present age must be permeated ,piritually; but, my dear friends, the matter is not %uite so simple as this -ou need only investigate where ,piritual 'mpulses found their way to some e&tent into humanity to see whether they have always borne the right fruit !ne must in conclusion also say the following 9et us consider certain brochures, certain pamphlets which have been written, some written indeed by members of long standing #here are such written, wherein what figures here as ,piritual ,cience, is really placed before the world, but inverted, turned upside down, as it were #hese are plants which have grown on the soil on which we attempt to give ,piritual treasure to humanity to-day (nd anyone who thinks that this process, has run its course of our so-called followers into its opposite what is transmitted as ,piritual ,cience to-day, must be a simpleton For it most certainly is not yet finished 't is by no means so easy to reckon with this fact, that ,piritual truths must be brought to humanity, because as humanity is to-day it tends above all to differentiate into the three types which ' have characterised) the 1thical, the (esthetic, the intellectual; and further differentiations again within these .ow ,piritual truths are not adapted to be taken up in their purity by human beings who approach them with such differentiations 0ust think how on all sides to-day human beings tend to shut themselves off in their national chauvinism, and if you try to take up generally human and spiritual truths with national chauvinism, you transform them thereby into the opposite 't is impossible simply to impart what is now desirable from a certain point of view, for human beings tend to such differentiations as ' have described #herefore it is necessary above all that the interest of man should be awakened from the side which already e&ists 't is necessary that, in a certain sense, one should link on to what is already there, continually bearing in mind the tendency men have to turn away from that ancient treasure of wisdom and put nothing else in its place e&cept the territorial differentiation on this earth 't does not do to spread ,piritual truths among humanity,

without also spreading a certain 1thos =any people have read #o$ to !ttain %no$led&e of the #i&her 'orlds #hese books have been read considerably for some time #hey have ob*ected that the first counsels given there are ethical, and that they must be in ethical agreement with them #hey are right right #he first counsels given must be ethical and form an e&tract of the best 1thos of earthly civilisation +ut, on the other hand, it is also necessary to cultivate a certain artistic element, and that has made %uite special difficulties in the (nthroposophical =ovement; for without the (nthroposophical =ovement there e&isted a certain disinclination at first towards artistic things (n abstract, (esthetically indifferent, symbolism was striven for #here still e&ists to-day, movements which call themselves #heosophical which re*ects everything artistic #herefore it was a good fate, a good >arma, of our =ovement that we were able to make artistic e&periments here in @ornach, and that we could work them out away from the abstract symbolic element Berhaps if things had gone according to the desires of many, we should see many a black cross with red roses or something like roses, as the deep symbol of our building "e have of course, to beware of this symbolism, and strive to create from out of the artistic element #hat had to be linked an to the best traditions, of human civilisation if ' may call impulses traditions (bove all one thing must be considered, that these are deep and earnest truths, and they must run somewhat as follows) whoever wishes to attain true knowledge must cultivate in himself a sense for truth8 "hen one speaks radically about this %uestion, my dear friends, one comes in touch with something which sounds repellent to many to-day, because this rigorous striving everywhere for the truth is something which is e&traordinarily unpleasant to many people to-day, truth being something which they want at least to touch-up in life +ut untruth, even if untrue from sentimentality, does not go with that strong sense for truth, demanded e g by a real devotion to these truths which (nthroposophy wishes to place in the world =y dear friends, in this connection the religious confessions have sinned especially, because they have inserted something which can no longer be united with a pure sense for truth /ertain kinds of piety are carried out into the world which satisfy human egoism far more than human feeling for truth #herefore it is %uite specially necessary that real attention should be paid to the cultivation of inner truthfulness, as is so often pointed out in our (nthroposophical writings (s you know, life itself demands from human beings to-day many untrue things, and we may say there e&ists to-day two distinct tendencies, which evoke in man a certain disinclination to look at facts in their true light #o-day the tendency e&ists to characterise things from personal preference and not according to the facts #o-day a man is called practical who is in a certain sense a man of routine; one who with a certain brute force works within his own sphere regardless of any consideration, and puts aside everything which does not serve to promote his own particular ob*ects From this standpoint one distinguishes :practical; men and :visionaries;; and with a certain world-historic untruth, the conse%uences of these things have shown themselves in a terrible way, in the course of the 19th century, and up to our own day 'ndeed it was difficult before this great testin& came over humanity through the catastrophe of the "orld "ar, to say something of what ruthlessly characterises these things ' am shortly publishing a collection of a few of my more important early writings articles written in the eighties and nineties, in order to show how, as it were through small slits, ' even then attempted to utter many truths (mong these articles there is one on (ismarck, the "an of Political Successes , in which ' attempted to show that the success of this personality depended upon the fact that he could never see much further than his nose8 +ut, as you know, it is no use to cast these things in the face of the world if no one is there who can take them up No$, however, we must start from this basis, that the "orld-"ar /atastrophe can teach us many things !f course, for most men, nothing is to be learnt from these facts #hey have a certain fund of opinions, and do not alter them #hey are not able to understand what underlies the statement that we must learn from the facts ' always tell each person whom ' conduct round the 4oetheanum, that if ' had to design such a building a second time, ' would do so %uite differently ' would certainly never make it in the same

way again #here is nothing, of course, against the present building, but ' myself would not make it in the same way again, because obviously, one has learnt something from what one has made, and which stands there as an accomplished fact #o-day ' read with astonishment that Field-=arshal $indenburg said, if he had to conduct the "orld-"ar over again he would do it in e&actly the same way 'ndeed these things are read, but they are read carelessly; and people do not notice that one must gain an understanding of the age from the teachings which are given in such a bitter way through this world catastrophe "hatever one reads and what constantly resounds in one<s ears from the world to-day, should be taken with the corresponding background, and one should always be able to say) 'n important things a revision of *udgment is essentially and constantly necessary 't was right as far as could be seen e&ternally, to call +ismarck a practical man, until the "orld-/atastrophe came $ermann 4rimm regarded +ismarck as a tower of practical e&cellence +ut the "orld "ar catastrophe has taught us that +ismarck was a visionary, and the opinions of his *udgment have had to be altered; for his idea of the creation of an 1mpire was naturally only a phantasy -ou see, ' *ust want to make you see clearly that it is life itself, and must be life, which teaches us to discover illusions, even in the sphere of moral history ' have shown you how one must substantiate these illusions in the sphere of natural connections, noting how in nature things stand side by side, and that is how natural investigators describe them #hus we must say that humanity shares in the occurrences of nature, and that what natural science says about this is simply a web of illusions #o-day ' wanted to make comprehensible to you how we must learn the very facts of history and of life to correct things; because, often for long periods, they only show themselves outwardly as illusion =en who were naturally regarded by many as practical, must now of necessity be regarded as visionaries !ne must accustom oneself to-day to revise one<s *udgment in this manner (t each step in life, there is not only opportunity enough but also a necessity for revising one<s *udgment (nd one is only in the right mood, the mood the (nthroposophical =ovement seeks to ac%uire, when one says to oneself) :' must revise my opinions, perhaps even about the most important things in life ; !pinions about natural connections, can as a rule, be revised through the study of ,piritual ,cience 0udgments about life one can only revise when one really develops in oneself the mood necessary for the (nthroposophical =ovement