Star Wisdom, Moon Religion, Sun Religion
GA 353
12 April 1924, Dornach
II. The Easter Festival and Its Background
[ 1 ] Dr. Steiner: As I shall be away next week I wanted to speak to you to-day about the Easter Festival. Or have you some other question of importance at the moment?
[ 2 ] Questioner: I had a question but it has nothing to do with the Easter Festival.
An article in a recent Parisian newspaper stated that it is possible to be taught to read and to see with the skin. Would Dr. Steiner say something about this? I was very astonished by it.
[ 3 ] Dr. Steiner: A great deal of caution is necessary when information about a matter of this kind comes from a newspaper and careful investigation is called for. The article says that certain people ... the man really means everyone ... can be trained to see with the skin, to read with certain parts of the skin.
[ 4 ] Now this has been known for a long time. It is possible to train certain people to read with some part of their skin. But let me say at once that such a thing is really not so very astonishing. Human beings do not by any means learn everything that they could learn; they do not develop all their powers. Many faculties could be developed quite quickly by setting to work in earnest. Children, for example, could all be trained to read with their finger-tips by making them touch and feel letters on a piece of paper. In the blank spaces between the letters the paper is quite different to the touch. If you were to make letters which stand out a little from the paper it would be quite easy to read them! Letters made of wood could be read by touch with the eyes shut. It is only a matter of refining this faculty, making it more delicate.
[ 5 ] When I was a boy I trained myself to do something rather unusual, namely, to hold a pencil between the big toe and the next toe and write with it. All these things that one does not generally learn can be learnt and then certain faculties will develop. These faculties can become so delicate and sensitive that the result is quite astonishing. But it really need not be so; what has happened is that the power of touch has been greatly enhanced, and every part of the body has this power. Just as we become aware of a jab from a nail, so we can become aware of the tiny roughnesses caused by letters on paper.
[ 6 ] This, however, does not quite cover the case you mentioned, for the man claims that he can develop in everyone the faculty of being able to read with the skin. From the statement as it stands, the details could not all be put to the test and it would be better to wait for scientific confirmation before believing that if a page of a book were placed, say, over your stomach, you would eventually be able to read it. One must be able to discriminate whether it is a matter of a delicate and highly sensitive faculty of touch or whether there is something bogus about it—and this cannot be discovered from the newspaper report. I myself was not at all astonished at the statement because I can well imagine that such a thing might be possible; but what did astonish me was the stupid comment of the journalists, who said that if such a thing were really true, then it must have been discovered a long time ago.—I ask you, how can anyone say about the telephone, for example: If this is really true, then it must have been known for a very long time! This kind of comment astonished me far more than the phenomenon itself. The phenomenon itself is not so very astonishing because a human being can do a great deal towards developing his organs of feeling and touch. Seeing with the eyes is not everything. The fingers, for example, can be developed into most delicate organs of perception. And so reliable scientific investigation would be necessary in order to prove whether or not, after years of training, the man can make every part of the body able to see. I have read reports in German, English and French newspapers and I find it impossible to gather from them whether the man in question is a lunatic, a humbug or a serious scientist.
Now let us think about the Easter Festival in connection with the Mystery of Golgotha. As you know, Easter is a movable festival—every year it is celebrated on a different date. Why is the date variable? Because it is determined, not by terrestrial but by celestial conditions. It is fixed by asking: When does spring begin? March 21st is always the beginning of spring and the Easter Festival takes place after this. Then there is a period of waiting until the Moon comes to the full, then another pause until the following Sunday, and Easter falls on the first Sunday after the first full Moon after the beginning of spring. The first full Moon can be on 22nd March, in which case Easter is very early; or the first full Moon can be a whole twenty-nine days after 21st March. If, for example, there is a full Moon on 19th March, spring has not yet begun and then after some twenty-eight days the Moon is again full; the Easter Festival in that year will fall on the next Sunday—quite late in April.
[ 7 ] Now why has the Easter Festival been fixed according to conditions in the heavens? This is connected with what I have been telling you. In earlier times men knew that the Moon and the Sun have an influence upon everything that exists on the Earth.
[ 8 ] Think of a growing plant. (Sketch on the blackboard.) If you want to grow a plant, you take a tiny seed and lay it in the soil. The whole plant, the whole life of the plant is compressed into this tiny seed. What comes out of this seed? First, the root. The life expands into the root. [ 9 ] But then it contracts again and grows, still in a state of contraction, into a stem. Then it expands and the leaves come and then the blossom. Then there is again contraction into the seed and the seed waits until the following year. In the plant, therefore, we see a process of expansion—contraction; expansion—contraction.
[ 10 ] Whenever the plant expands, it is the Sun which draws out the leaf or the blossom; whenever the plant contracts (in the seed or the stem) the contraction is due to the forces of the Moon. Between the leaves, the Moon is working. So that when we take a plant with spreading leaves and root, we can say, beginning with the seed: Moon—then Sun—again Moon—again Sun—again Moon, and so forth ... with the Moon at the end of the process. In every plant we see Sun forces and Moon forces working in alternation. In a field of growing plants we behold the deeds of Sun and Moon. I told you that the fashioning and shaping of the physical human being when he comes into the world, is dependent on the Moon; 1See the previous lecture. inner forces which make it possible for him to transform his own character, come from the Sun. I told you this when we were speaking about the Mystery of Golgotha.
[ 11 ] In earlier times these things were known but they have all been forgotten. Men asked themselves: When is there present in spring the influence that does most to promote the thriving and growth of vegetation? It is when the influences of Sun and Moon together are at their strongest. This is the case when the rays of the first full Moon after the beginning of spring shine down upon the Earth, adding strength to the rays of the Sun. The influences of Sun and Moon are mutually enhanced when the springtime Sun at its strongest works in conjunction with the Moon which is also at its strongest when its cycle of four weeks has been completed. The time for Easter, therefore, is the Sunday—the day dedicated to the Sun—after the first full Moon of spring. The date of the Easter Festival was based on knowledge relating to the winter solstice and the subsequent beginning of spring.
[ 12 ] Now the Easter Festival did not begin in the Christian era before the rise of Christianity there was an old pagan festival—the Adonis Festival as it was called. What was this Adonis Festival? It was instituted by the Mysteries—those places for the cultivation of art, learning and religion which I have described to you recently. And Adonis was personified in a kind of effigy or image, representing the spirit-and-soul in man. It was known, furthermore, that man's life of spirit-and-soul is united with the whole universe. The ancient pagan peoples took account of spiritual conditions and celebrated this Adonis Festival in the autumn. The old Easter Festival—which in a certain way resembled our own—fell in the autumn.2Dr. Steiner spoke in similar terms in four lectures given at Dornach, 19th–24th April, 1924.
The Adonis Festival was celebrated in the following way.—[ 13 ] The image of the eternal, immortal part of man was submerged in a pond, or in the sea if the place happened to be near the coast, and left there for three days, to the accompaniment of songs of mourning and lamentation. The submerging of the image was the occasion of solemnities resembling those which might be associated with the death of a member of a very united family. It was essentially a ceremony which had to do with Death, and it always took place on the day of the week we now call Friday. The name “Karfreitag” originated when the custom found its way into the Germanic regions of Middle Europe. “Kar” comes from “Chara” (Old High German) meaning mourning. It was therefore the Friday of sadness or mourning.
[ 14 ] So little is known of these things to-day that in England this Friday is called “Good” Friday, whereas in olden time it was the Friday of Death, the Friday of mourning and lamentation. It was a festival connected with Death, dedicated to Adonis. And in places where there was no water, an artificial pond was contrived into which the image or effigy was plunged and taken out after three days, i.e., after the Sunday.
[ 15 ] The image was taken out of the water amid songs of jubilation and rejoicing. For three days, therefore, the people were filled with deep sorrow and after these three days with ecstatic joy. And the theme of their songs of jubilation was always: “The God has come to us again!”
[ 16 ] What did this Festival signify?—I must emphasise again that originally it was celebrated in the autumn. [ 17 ] On other occasions I have told you that when the human being dies, the physical body is laid aside. Those who have been bereaved mourn in their own way for the dead with solemnities not unlike those which accompanied the submerging of the Adonis image. But there is something else as well. For a period of three days after death, the human being looks back upon his earthly life. His physical body has been laid aside but his ether-body is still with him. The ether-body expands and expands and finally dissolves into the universe. The human being then lives on in the astral body and the “I.”
[ 18 ] The purpose of those who instituted the Adonis Festival was to make men realise that the human being does not only die but after three days comes to life again in the spiritual world. And in order that this might be brought every year to men's consciousness, the Adonis Festival was instituted. In the autumn it was said: Lo, nature is dying; the trees lose their leaves, the earth is covered with snow; winds are cold and biting; the earth loses her fertility and looks just as the physical human being looks in death. We must wait until spring for the earth to come to life again, whereas the human being comes to life again in soul and spirit after three days. Of this men must be made conscious! ... A festival of Death was therefore followed immediately by a festival of Resurrection!—But this festival took place in the autumn—the season when it is easy to realise the contrast between man and nature. Nature is about to consolidate her life; she will lie dead through the whole winter. But in contrast to nature, man lives on after death in the spiritual world. When nature sheds her leaves, is covered with snow, when cold winds blow, then is the time to make man conscious: You are different from nature, inasmuch as when you die, after three days you live again!
[ 19 ] It was a most beautiful festival, celebrated through long ages of antiquity. Men gathered together at the places of the Mysteries for the period of this festival, joining in the songs of mourning; and then, on the third day, the consciousness came to them that every soul, every “I” and every astral body come to life again in the spiritual world three days after death. Their attention was turned away from the physical world and their hearts and minds were drawn to the spiritual world. The very season of the year played a part, for in those days the festival did not take place in the spring when the people who lived on the land were occupied with other tasks. The old Easter Festival, the Adonis Festival, was celebrated when the fruit had been harvested and the grape picking was over, when winter was approaching. It was the appropriate season for an awakening in the Spirit, and so the Adonis Festival was celebrated. The name varied in different territories but the festival was celebrated in all ancient religions. For all ancient religions spoke in this way of the immortality of the human soul.
[ 20 ] Now in the first centuries of the Christian era itself, the Easter Festival was not celebrated at the time it is celebrated to-day; not until the third or fourth century did it become customary to celebrate Easter in the spring. But by that time men had lost all understanding of the spiritual world; they had eyes only for nature, concerned themselves only with nature. And so they said: It is not possible to celebrate resurrection in the autumn, when nothing comes to life!—They no longer knew that the human being comes to life again in the spiritual world, and so they said: In the autumn there is no resurrection; the snow covers everything. Whereas in the spring, all things burst into life. Spring, therefore, is the proper time for the Easter Festival.—This kind of thinking was already an outcome of materialism, although it was a materialism which still looked up to the heavens and fixed the Easter Festival according to Sun and Moon. By the third and fourth centuries of the Christian era, materialism was already in evidence but at least it still looked out into the universe; it was not the “earth-worm” materialism which has eyes only for the Earth and has been described as such because the earthworms live under the soil and only come up when it rains. And so it is with the men of modern times; they look simply at what is on the Earth. When the Easter Festival began to be celebrated in the spring, even materialism still believed that the myriad stars have an influence upon human beings. But from the fifteenth century onwards, that too was forgotten. At the time when the Easter Festival was transferred to the spring, certain attempts were being made by the Christians to sweep away the ancient truths.—I mentioned this when we were speaking about the Mystery of Golgotha.—By the eighth or ninth centuries, men had not the remotest inkling that Christ's Coming was in any way connected with the Sun.
[ 21 ] In the fourth century there were two Emperors, one a little later than the other. The first was Constantine, the founder of Constantinople and an extremely vain man. He ordered a certain treasure that had once been brought from Troy to Rome to be transferred to Constantinople and buried in the ground under a pillar which had upon it a statue of Apollo, the old pagan god; then he sent to the East for wood said to have been taken from the Cross of Christ, and caused a wreath to be carved, with rays springing from it. But in the figure crowned with this wooden wreath, people were expected to behold Constantine! And so from then onwards, veneration was paid to Constantine, standing there on the pillar that had been erected over the precious Roman treasure. By external measures, you see, he brought it about that men ceased to know anything about cosmic secrets, about the fact that Christ is connected with the Sun.
[ 22 ] The other Emperor, Julian, had received instruction in the Mysteries which still survived, although under very difficult conditions. Later on they were exterminated altogether by the Emperor Justinian but for centuries already their existence had been highly precarious. They were not wanted; Christianity was their bitter enemy. Julian the Emperor, however, had received instruction in the Mysteries and he knew: There is not only one Sun, but there are three Suns3See the lecture: The Threefold Sun and the Risen Christ. Given in London, 24th April, 1922.—This announcement caused an uproar, for it was a secret of the Mysteries.
[ 23 ] When you look at the Sun you see a whitish-yellowish orb or body—it is the physical Sun. But this Sun has a soul: it is the second Sun. And then there is the third Sun: the spiritual Sun. Like man, the Sun has body, soul and spirit. Julian spoke of three Suns and maintained that in Christianity men should be taught: Christ came from the Sun and then, as Sun Being, entered into the man Jesus.
[ 24 ] Now the Churches did not wish this knowledge to be in the possession of men. The Churches did not want the real facts about Christ Jesus to come to light, but only such knowledge as was authorised by them. Julian the Emperor was treacherously murdered on a journey to Asia, in order that the world might be rid of him. That is why Julian is always known as the Apostate, the heretic: Julian the Heretic! He desired that the connection between Christianity and the ancient truths should be maintained, for he thought: It will be easier for Christianity to make progress if it contains the truths of the ancient wisdom than if men are allowed to believe only what the priests tell them. So you see, at the time when the Easter Festival was transferred to the spring, knowledge that this festival is connected with resurrection still survived. Although knowledge of the resurrection of man had been lost, the resurrection of nature continued to be celebrated in a festival. But even that has been forgotten in places where Easter is still celebrated without any inkling of what it really signifies; and to-day people have come to the point of asking: Why need Sun and Moon have anything to do with the date of Easter? If Easter were always to fall on the first Sunday in April, book-keeping would be greatly simplified! The suggestion, therefore, is that the date should be determined by commercial considerations! ... As a matter of fact, the people who clamour for this are more honest than the others who insist that conditions in the heavens shall still be the determining factor, without having the slightest notion of what this means. Those who say from their own point of view that conditions in the heavens need not be taken into account are really the more honest. But the sad thing is that people can only be honest about this because they know nothing of the real connections. What we have to do to-day is to emphasise that the Spiritual must always be the decisive factor!
[ 25 ] And so in olden times men waited for the last full Moon after the beginning of autumn and celebrated the Adonis Festival on the preceding Sunday. Sun and Moon were taken into account but it was known that conditions are quite different, indeed the reverse, when snow will soon be falling from the heavens. The old Easter Festival, the Adonis Festival, always took place between the end of September and the end of October. This was the best time to be reminded of the resurrection of man, because at that season of the year there was no question of a resurrection in nature. This early festival, therefore, was known to be connected with Death and also with Resurrection ... but this knowledge too has been lost.
[ 26 ] It is important to be reminded of the ancient significance of these festivals, for we have again to find the way to the Spirit. We must not celebrate Christmas and Easter thoughtlessly but realise that such festivals have deep meaning.
[ 27 ] Now the world cannot be turned topsy-turvy; nobody would wish the Easter Festival to be transferred to the autumn. But it is good to be reminded that when a man dies, he lays aside his physical body and looks back upon his earthly life; then he lays aside the ether-body and comes to life again in the spiritual world as a being of spirit-and-soul. Such knowledge can greatly deepen our understanding of the Mystery of Golgotha.
The Mystery of Golgotha presents in external reality what was always presented in an image at the Adonis Festival. The men of antiquity had an image; Christians have the actual, historical event. But in the historical event there are certain points of resemblance with the imagery used in olden times. At the Adonis Festival the image of Adonis was submerged and raised after three days. It was a true Easter Festival.—But then, what had once been presented as an image, came to pass as an actual happening. The Christ was in Jesus. He died and rose to life again. And at Easter now, this is all that is remembered.
[ 28 ] In a way, there is a good side to this. For why was an image always set before the people at the Adonis Festival? It was because they needed something that their senses could perceive. Although they still looked at the universe in a spiritual way, in the material world they needed an image. But when Christ had passed through the Mystery of Golgotha there was to be no image; men were called upon to remember purely in the Spirit what had happened at that time. The Easter Festival was to be an essentially spiritual celebration. Men must no longer make a pagan image but perform the act of remembrance entirely within the life of soul. It was thought—and Mysteries still existed in the days of Christ Jesus—that the Easter Festival would in this way be spiritualised.
Think once again of the old Adonis Festival. It is impossible in present-day Europe to realise what such festivals meant to the ancient pagan peoples. You yourselves would say: This is only an image—and those at least who had been initiated in the Mysteries would have regarded it as such. But every year the statue of the god was displayed to large numbers of the people and then submerged. This gave rise to what is known as fetishism. A statue of such a kind was a fetish, an idol, a god; worship of such an object was called fetishism—and that of course is undesirable. And yet in a certain respect, an element of the same tendency has remained in Christianity, for the Monstrance with the Sanctissimum, the Sacred Host, is worshipped in Catholicism as the Real Christ. It is said that the Bread and the Wine are transformed, in the physical sense too, into the Body and Blood of Christ. This is a survival, not of enlightened pagan wisdom which beheld the Spiritual behind every sense-phenomenon, but of the fetish-worship in which the statue was taken to be the god himself.
[ 29 ] Nowadays—unless examples have occurred in one's own experience—it is almost impossible to picture the intensity with which people believed in these images of the god I myself once knew a very clever professor—all such men are clever, only modern science does not lead them to the Spiritual. The man was a Russian and he made a journey from Japan across Siberia. In the middle of Siberia he became aware of a deep uneasiness, he felt lonely and forsaken. And what did he do? Something that none of you, nor indeed any Westerner, would ever think of doing. But although this man was very learned, he was half-Asiatic. He made a figure of a god out of wood, took it with him on his further travels and prayed to it fervently. When I knew him his nerves were in a terrible state; the illness had come from worshipping his wooden god. It is difficult for you to conceive what it means to worship an idol of this kind!
[ 30 ] Now the Mysteries still existing at the time of the founding of Christianity were deeply concerned as to how men might be led to the Spiritual. And so what in earlier epochs had been presented before their eyes in the Adonis Festival was now to be revived in remembrance only, by prayer. [ 31 ] This was the intention ... but instead of becoming spiritual, everything became materialistic; it was all externalised, made formal. By the third and fourth centuries A.D. all kinds of emotions were aroused in the people on “Kar” Friday; the priests offered up prayers; and at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, the hour at which Christ is said to have died, the bells stopped ringing. Everything was still. And then, outwardly again, just as in the old Adonis Festival, the Crucifix, a figure of Christ on the Cross, was buried; at a later period it was covered with a veil. After three days came Easter—the festival of Resurrection. But the manner and form of the celebration are the same, fundamentally, as in the old Adonis Festival. The form of the celebration indicates that little by little the souls of men were coming under the authority of Rome.
In many districts, for example in the place where my youth was spent—whether it happens here I do not know—it is customary on the Friday before Easter for the boys to gather around the Church with rattles and musical toys, singing the words:
[ 32 ] Wir rätschen, wir rätschen am Dom.
Die Glocken ziehen nach Rom.4Approximate translation: We shake our rattles around the church ... but the bells draw us to Rome.
[ 33 ] Everything, you see, pointed towards Rome, especially at the time of the Easter Festival.
[ 34 ] Men of the present age must emerge from materialism into a life of spiritual knowledge; they must learn to understand things in a spiritual way, above all such things as the Easter Festival. Every year at the Easter Festival we can remind ourselves that the day of mourning, the Chara, commemorates the departure of the human being from the physical world; for three days after death he is still looking back on the physical world; then he lays aside his ether-body as a second corpse; but then in his astral body and “I,” he rises to life again in the spiritual world. This, too, is part of the act of remembrance, although it would be barbarous to expect songs of jubilation three days after a death has occurred. And yet we can be reminded of these songs of jubilation when we think of the immortality of the human soul and of how, after three days, the soul comes to live again in the spiritual world.
[ 35 ] There is a connection between the Easter Festival and every human death. At every human death our attitude should be that although mourning is inevitable, the Easter Festival is near, when we shall remember that every soul after death rises to life again in the spiritual world.—You know, of course, of the festival which commemorates the death of all human beings: it is called the Festival of All Souls and is still celebrated in the autumn. When the knowledge of its connection with the Easter Festival had been lost, the Day of All Saints, All Saints' Day, was placed before it in the calendar. But All Souls' Day should, in reality, be celebrated as the day of the Dead and the Easter Festival as the day of Resurrection. They belong together although they are separated now by the span of nearly half a year! From the calendar as it now stands it is often impossible to understand what really lies behind these festivals.
[ 36 ] But remember: everything on Earth is in reality directed by the Heavens. People are surprised if it ever snows at Easter because that is the time for the plants to be sprouting, not for snow. They are surprised because they feel that the Easter Festival is intended to commemorate the resurrection, the immortality of the human soul.
[ 37 ] This attitude and knowledge make the whole Easter Festival into a deep, heart-felt experience, reminding those who celebrate it of something that is connected with man himself and with his life as the seasons of the year run their course. The only kind of connection with the yearly seasons to which any thought is given to-day is that in the winter one puts on a winter coat and in the summer a summer coat, that one sweats in the summer and shivers in the winter—all purely material considerations. What is not known is that with the coming of spring, spiritual forces are actively at work drawing forth the plants from the Earth and that with the coming of autumn, spiritual forces are again in operation as forces of destruction. When this is understood men will see life and being in the whole of nature. Much of what is said about nature to-day is nonsense. People see a plant, tear it out of the soil and set about studying botany ... because they know nothing about the essentials. If I were to tear out a hair and proceed to describe it, this would be nonsense, because the hair cannot arise of itself; it must be growing on a human being or an animal. Nothing that you might apply to any part of a lifeless stone will make a hair grow from it. For a hair to grow, life must be at the source. The plants are like the hair of the Earth, because the Earth is a living being. And just as man needs the air in order to live, so does the Earth need the stars with their spirituality; the Earth breathes in the spiritual forces of the stars in order to live. Man moves over the Earth and the Earth moves through the Cosmos, lives in. the Cosmos. The Earth is a living being.
[ 38 ] This remembrance at least can still come to us at the Easter Festival—the remembrance that the Earth herself is a living Being. When the Earth brings forth the plants she is young, just as the child is young when the soft hair grows. The old man loses his hair just as in autumn the Earth loses the plants. It is only that the Earth's life runs its course in a different rhythm: youth in the spring, age in the autumn; youth again, age again—whereas in man the periods are much longer. Everything in the universe is alive. In thinking of the Easter Festival and with the spectacle of newly awakening nature before us, we can say: Death is not ever-present; beings have to pass through death but life is the essential reality. Life is everywhere victorious over death. The Easter Festival is there to remind us of this victory and to give us strength. If men gain this kind of strength it will enable them to set about the improvement of external conditions with insight and intelligence—not in the way that is usual at the present time. First and foremost we need Spiritual Science in order again to ally ourselves with the spiritual world—which is a world of life, not of death.
[ 39 ] In this sense I hope that the Easter Festival will be as full of beauty in your souls as are the spring flowers growing out of the Earth.—After Easter we shall meet together again and speak about scientific matters.
[ 40 ] At the Easter Festival, then, let us feel: Men can go to their work with fresh courage and with joy. Even if in these days there are not many opportunities of finding joy in daily work, perhaps here it is different! In any case I wanted to say these things to you to-day and to wish you a beautiful Easter in the sense of the knowledge born from Spiritual Science.
Über das Osterfest
[ 1 ] Guten Morgen, meine Herren! Da ich nächste Woche ja nicht da sein kann, weil ich in Bern sein muß, so wollte ich Ihnen heute eigentlich noch etwas sagen, was mit dem zusammenhängt, was wir schon besprochen haben über das Osterfest. Oder haben Sie eine andere Frage, über etwas, was besonders jetzt wichtig ist?
[ 2 ] Herr Burle: Ich hätte eigentlich auch etwas zu fragen, aber es hängt nicht mit dem Osterfest zusammen. Es ist unlängst ein Zeitungsartikel gekommen von Paris, wo geschrieben wird, daß es möglich ist, daß man mit der Haut lesen könne, sehen könne. - Kann Herr Doktor darüber etwas sagen? Es hat mich sehr verwundert, das zu hören.
[ 3 ] Dr. Steiner: Nun, wenn man solch eine Sache in dieser Form mitgeteilt bekommt, wie sie da in solchen Zeitungsartikeln auftritt, so muß man zuerst natürlich vorsichtig sein. Es müssen ja die Sachen nachgeprüft werden. Es handelt sich also darum, daß gewisse Persönlichkeiten - nun behauptet allerdings der Mann: alle Persönlichkeiten - dazu gebracht werden können, mit der Haut zu sehen, mit irgendeiner Hautstelle lesen zu können.
[ 4 ] Das ist aber eine Sache, die man längst weiß und die man eben mit gewissen Persönlichkeiten durchführen kann, so daß, wenn man Persönlichkeiten darauf trainiert, so richtig daraufhin ausbildet, man die Fähigkeit erzeugen kann, daß sie mit der Haut, irgendeiner beliebigen Hautstelle, lesen können. Nun möchte ich aber doch bei dieser Gelegenheit darauf aufmerksam machen, daß man sich über solche Dinge nicht allzu stark verwundern sollte. Denn Sie müssen nur bedenken: Die Menschen lernen doch nicht alles, was sie können; sie bilden es nicht aus. Und man kann manche Dinge sehr schnell ausbilden, wenn man es daraufhin anlegt. Man könnte natürlich alle Kinder daraufhin ausbilden, daß sie mit den Fingern lesen können, wenn man zunächst die einfachen Buchstaben nimmt und die Kinder das Papier abgreifen läßt. An der Stelle, wo der Buchstabe nicht steht, ist das Papier doch ganz anders als da, wo der Buchstabe steht. Nehmen Sie nur an, man mache Buchstaben, die etwas herausragen, ausgekratzt sind aus dem Papier - warum sollte man denn die nicht leicht lesen können! Denn wenn man aus Holz Buchstaben macht, so kann man ja auch durch Abgreifen mit zugemachten Augen lesen. Und diese Gabe braucht nur etwas verfeinert zu werden.
[ 5 ] Sehen Sie, ich habe mich zum Beispiel als Junge auf etwas geübt, was die wenigsten Leute üben: nämlich einen Bleistift zwischen der großen Zehe und der nächsten Zehe zu halten und damit zu schreiben. Man kann das auch lernen. Man kann eben alle diese Dinge, die man sonst nicht lernt, lernen, und dadurch entstehen dann gewisse Fähigkeiten; die verfeinern sich, und dadurch entsteht dann etwas, worüber man glaubt, sich verwundern zu sollen. Es ist aber gar nicht zu verwundern. Es beruht auf der Ausbildung des Tastvermögens. Mit jedem Körperteil kann man tasten. So wie man einen Stich mit der Nadel wahrnehmen kann, so kann man auch die kleinen Einkratzungen wahrnehmen, die die Buchstaben bilden. Und auf diese Weise kann so etwas ausgebildet werden.
[ 6 ] Aber um so etwas handelt es sich in diesem Falle doch nicht ganz, denn der Mann behauptet, daß er bei allen Personen die Fähigkeit hervorrufen kann, mit der Haut wirklich lesen zu lernen. Nun ist jene Beschreibung nicht ganz genau so, daß man alle Einzelheiten prüfen kann. Wenn einmal eine wissenschaftliche Begründung darüber erschienen ist, läßt sich eher sagen, ob es stimmt, wenn man Ihnen eine Seite von einem Buch auf den Bauch legt, ob Sie das lesen können. Man muß eben erst erkennen, ob es sich da um ein ganz feines Gefühlsvermögen, Tastvermögen handelt, das man ausbilden kann, oder ob der Mann schwindelt. Was dahintersteckt, das läßt sich aus der Beschreibung noch nicht entnehmen. Mich hat bei dieser Mitteilung die Sache gar nicht so sehr verwundert, weil ich mir denken kann, daß es möglich sein könnte; aber was mich verwundert hat, das ist die dumme Bemerkung, die die Journalisten daran geknüpft haben: wenn das wirklich wahr wäre, dann müßte es längst gefunden sein. - Kann einer sagen, wenn das Telephon zum Beispiel gefunden wird: Wenn das wirklich wahr wäre, dann müßte es längst gefunden sein, dann müßte es die Menschheit längst kennen? Das hat mich viel mehr verwundert, daß solch ein Ausspruch möglich ist, als die Sache selber. Die Sache selber ist gar nicht so wunderbar, denn man kann als Mensch sehr viel für seine Gefühls-, für seine Tastorgane lernen. Denn die Menschen bemerken nur nicht, was davon abhängt, daß sie die Augen auf etwas richten in der Beurteilung der Gegenstände. Zum Beispiel die Finger können sehr fein ausgebildet werden für die Wahrnehmung von allem möglichen. Also ein Urteil darüber, ob der Mann, der da behauptet, daß er jeden Körperteil dazu bringen kann, daß er sieht, das aus langjähriger Abrichtung dazu bringt oder nicht, muß aus wirklicher Wissenschaftlichkeit hervorgehen. Ich habe darüber deutsche, englische und französische Zeitungsnachrichten gelesen; es läßt sich daraus nicht entnehmen, ob der Mann wahnsinnig oder ein Schwindler oder ein wirklich wissenschaftlicher Mensch ist. Das ist die Sache. Nun möchte ich Ihnen also über das Osterfest noch etwas sagen. Das Osterfest ist gerade deshalb so geeignet, daß wir anknüpfen an dasjenige, was wir über das Mysterium von Golgatha gesprochen haben, weil ja, wie Sie wissen, das Osterfest ein sogenanntes bewegliches Fest ist. Es wird jedes Jahr an einem anderen Zeitpunkte gefeiert. Es schwankt. Warum schwankt es? Aus dem Grunde schwankt es, weil man es nicht nach irdischen Verhältnissen festsetzt, sondern man setzt es fest nach himmlischen Verhältnissen. Man setzt es dadurch fest, daß man sich frägt: Wann ist der Frühlingsanfang? Der Frühlingsanfang ist natürlich immer am 21. März. Also bevor der Frühling anfängt, setzt man nicht das Osterfest an. Dann wartet man aber - der Frühlingsanfang ist also immer am 21. März -, bis der Vollmond kommt. Wenn der Vollmond kommt, wartet man wieder bis zum nächsten Sonntag und setzt als Ostersonntag denjenigen Sonntag fest, der der erste Sonntag ist nach dem ersten Vollmond nach Frühlingsanfang. Nun kann der erste Vollmond auf den 22. März fallen; dann ist der nächste Sonntag für uns der Ostersonntag, weil er der erste Sonntag ist nach dem Frühlingsvollmond. Dann ist das Osterfest sehr, sehr früh. Es kann aber auch der Vollmond erst neunundzwanzig Tage nach dem 21. März fallen. Wenn zum Beispiel der Vollmond am 19. März ist, kommt erst der Frühlingsanfang, und dann nach achtundzwanzig Tagen der Vollmond. Dann ist erst der nächste Sonntag nach vier Wochen der Ostersonntag. Dann fällt also das Osterfest weit in den April hinein. So daß das Osterfest verschiebbar ist zwischen dem 21. März und dem Ende des April. Da schwankt es hin und her.
[ 7 ] Nun, meine Herren, warum hat man das Osterfest festgesetzt nach dem, wie es am Himmel ist? Ja, das hängt mit dem zusammen, was ich Ihnen schon gesagt habe, daß man eben früher wußte: Mond und Sonne haben auf all das, was auf der Erde ist, einen Einfluß.
[ 8 ] Betrachten Sie eine Pflanze, die aus der Erde herauswächst. Wenn da die Erde ist (siehe Zeichnung), so nehmen Sie ja, wenn Sie die Pflanze haben wollen, einen ganz kleinen Samen und legen ihn hinein. Da ist die ganze Pflanze, das ganze Leben der Pflanze zusammengedrängt in diesem kleinen Samen. Was wird aus diesem Samen? Zuerst die Wurzel. Da dehnt sich das ganze Leben aus zu der Wurzel.
[ 9 ] Dann zieht sie sich aber neuerdings wiederum zusammen und es wächst zusammengezogen, und es wird ein Stengel. Dann dehnt es sich wieder aus und es werden die Blätter. Dann wird die Blüte daraus. Und dann zieht es sich wiederum zusammen in dem Samen, der da wartet bis zum nächsten Jahre. Was haben wir also bei der Pflanze? Wir haben bei der Pflanze Ausdehnen, Zusammenziehen, Ausdehnen, Zusammenziehen, Ausdehnen, Zusammenziehen.
[ 10 ] Nun, jedesmal, wenn sich die Pflanze ausdehnt, ist es die Sonne, die zum Beispiel das Blatt herauszieht; jedesmal, wenn sich die Pflanze zusammenzicht, wenn es entweder der Same ist oder der Stengel, da ist es aber der Mond, der dieses Zusammenziehen bewirkt. Also da zwischen den Blättern, da wirkt der Mond. So daß man sagen kann, wenn man eine solche Pflanze bekommt, wo die Blätter ausgebreitet sind, wo die Wurzel ausgebreitet ist - zuerst beim Samen: der Mond, dann: die Sonne, wieder Mond, wieder Sonne, wieder Mond, Sonne, und mit dem Mond schließt es ab. So daß wir in jeder Pflanze abwechselnd bemerken können: Sonnenwirken, Mondenwirken, Sonnenkräfte, Mondenkräfte. Wir schauen uns also um uns herum das Feld an mit den wachsenden Pflanzen und sehen da die Taten von Sonne und Mond. Ich habe Ihnen gesagt: Auch wenn der Mensch in die Welt kommt, dann ist das, wie er gestaltet ist in seinem physischen Leib, abhängig vom Mond; das, was er innerlich für Kräfte hat, um sich selber umzuwandeln, das ist abhängig von der Sonne. Das habe ich Ihnen bei der Schilderung des Mysteriums von Golgatha gesagt.
[ 11 ] Ja, sehen Sie, das hat man früher gewußt; das hat man nur vergessen. Man hat sich gesagt: Wann ist die größte Kraft im Frühling vorhanden, damit die Pflanzen richtig gedeihen können und am zuträglichsten gedeihen können für den Menschen? Wenn Sönne und Mond richtig zusammenwirken. Das ist der Fall, wenn zum ersten Mal der Vollmond mit seiner vollen Strahlung auf die Erde scheint und die Sonnenstrahlen unterstützt. Da kommen also Sonne und Mond zusammen, wenn die Sonne, die ihre höchste Kraft im Frühling hat, und der Mond, der ja immer nach vier Wochen seine höchste Kraft hat, richtig zusammenwirken; deshalb Ostern am Sonntag, der der Sonne gewidmet war, nach dem Frühlingsvollmond. Also, man hat in der Festsetzung des Osterfestes gewußt, daß es sich um etwas handelt, was sich festsetzen soll als Frühlingsanfang nach der Wintersonnenwende.
[ 12 ] Nun ist aber das Osterfest nicht etwa erst in den christlichen Zeiten entstanden, sondern es ist eigentlich aus einem alten heidnischen Fest hervorgegangen, aus dem Feste, das ich Ihnen auch schon angedeutet habe, jetzt genauer beschreiben will: aus dem sogenannten Adonisfest. Worin bestand denn das Adonisfest? Sehen Sie, meine Herren, das Adonisfest ist eingesetzt worden aus denjenigen Kunst- und Unterrichts- und Religionsstätten, die ich Ihnen als die Mysterien geschildert habe. Und Adonis war eine Art von Bild, das man sich gemacht hat für dasjenige im Menschen, was geistig-seelisch ist. Also man hat sich unter Adonis das vorgestellt, was im Menschen geistig-seelisch ist. Und man dachte sich: Ja, aber auch das, was geistig-seelisch ist im Menschen, stimmt überein mit der ganzen Welt. - Und berücksichtigen muß man nur, daß das Adonisfest, das unserem heutigen Osterfest gleicht, bei den alten Heiden, die die ganzen geistigen Verhältnisse noch berücksichtigt haben, so entstanden ist, daß sie es im Herbst gefeiert haben! Also das alte Osterfest ist im Herbste gefeiert worden. Und es ist auf folgende Art gefeiert worden.
[ 13 ] Es ist dadurch gefeiert worden, daß man das Bild dieses ewigen, unsterblichen Teiles des Menschen, des geistig-seelischen Teiles, genommen hat, in einen Teich oder in Meereswasser, wenn es an der Küste war, getaucht hat, es drei Tage dadrinnen gelassen hat, und das Hinuntersenken des Bildes, das haben die Leute begleitet mit Trauergesängen, mit Klagegesängen. Es war dieses Hinuntersenken des Bildes verbunden mit einer solchen Feierlichkeit, wie sie sonst sein kann, wenn man aus einem regen Familien- oder Freundschaftskreis jemanden sterben sieht - ein richtiges Totenfest. Und das ist immer an einem solchen Tag gefeiert worden, den wir heute als einen Freitag bezeichnen. Der Name Karfreitag ist eigentlich erst aufgekommen, als die Sache auf Mitteleuropa, auf die germanischen Gegenden, auf die deutschen Gegenden überging. Und «kar» kommt von kara, und kara heißt eigentlich die Klage. Also ist es der Klagefreitag.
[ 14 ] Wie diese Sache ursprünglich war, das wissen die Menschen heute so wenig, daß die Engländer diesen Freitag Good Friday, den Guten Freitag nennen, während er in alten Zeiten der Totenfreitag, der Trauerfreitag, der Klagefreitag genannt worden ist. Es war ein richtiges Totenfest, das für den Adonis gefeiert wurde. Und wo gar kein Wasser vorhanden war, haben sie irgendein künstliches Gewässer gemacht, wo sie ihr Bild hineintauchen konnten - es war eine Statue und nach drei Tagen wieder herausgeholt haben, nämlich nach dem Sonntag herausgehoben haben. Sie sehen, meine Herren, das war ein richtiges Totenfest.
[ 15 ] Beim Herausheben wurden dann Freudengesänge angestimmt, richtige Freudengesänge. So daß da innerhalb der drei Tage durch jede Menschenseele gezogen ist dasjenige, was erregt hat die höchste Trauer, und nach drei Tagen die größte Freude. Jubelgesänge wurden angestimmt. Und der Inhalt dieser Jubelgesänge war immer der, daß man sagte: Der Gott ist uns wieder erstanden!
[ 16 ] Ja, meine Herren, was bedeutete denn dieses Fest? - ich muß immer betonen: es wurde zunächst im Herbste gefeiert -, was bedeutete dieses Fest?
[ 17 ] Nun, ich habe Ihnen bei anderen Gelegenheiten auch das Folgende erzählt: Wenn der Mensch stirbt, dann legt er seinen physischen Leib ab. Wenn der Mensch stirbt, dann trauern die Hinterbliebenen und Freunde, und es wird, je nachdem die Menschen gestimmt sind, eine solche Totenfeierlichkeit, wie sie diese Leute bei der Adonisversenkung gemacht haben, auf natürliche Weise entstehen. Nur fehlt etwas anderes. Ich habe Ihnen ja erzählt: Drei Tage lang nach seinem Tode bleibt der Mensch so, daß er zurücksieht auf sein Erdenleben. Er hat seinen physischen Leib abgelegt, aber er hat noch seinen Ätherleib. Der wird immer größer und größer und verdunstet endlich in der Welt. Dann ist der Mensch nur noch in seinem astralischen Leib und in seinem Ich.
[ 18 ] Die Leute, die das Adonisfest eingerichtet haben, haben sich nun gesagt: Die Menschen sollen wissen, daß der Mensch nicht nur stirbt, wenn sein physischer Leib stirbt, sondern daß er nach drei Tagen in der geistigen Welt wieder aufersteht. - Und damit dem Menschen das jedes Jahr zum Bewußtsein kommt, deshalb ist das Adonisfest eingerichtet worden. Beim Adonisfest im Herbste sagte man: Seht ihr, die Natur stirbt ab. Die Bäume verlieren ihre Blätter, die Erde bedeckt sich mit Schnee, Kälte, schneidende Winde kommen, die Erde verliert ihre Fruchtbarkeit; sie sieht gerade so aus, als wenn der physische Mensch stirbt. - Aber wenn man auf die Erde schaut, dann muß man bis zum Frühling warten, wenn sie wieder auferstehen soll. Wenn man auf den Menschen schaut: der steht in der Seele, im Geiste nach drei Tagen wieder auf. Das muß zum Bewußtsein kommen. Deshalb Totenfest, und gleich darauf Auferstehungsfest - aber im Herbste, wo man dem Menschen klarmachen kann: Der Mensch ist der Gegensatz der Natur. Die Natur muß sich fügen, bleibt den ganzen Winter tot, weil sie nur Natur ist; der Mensch lebt fort nach dem Tode in der geistigen Welt, tritt in Gegensatz zur Natur. Wenn die Natur abblättert, schneeig wird, wenn die Natur die kalten Winde hat, dann muß man den Menschen aufmerksam machen: Du bist anders als die Natur; wenn du dahinstirbst, stehst du in drei Tagen wiederum auf.
[ 19 ] Das war ein schönes Fest durch die ganzen alten Zeiten. Da kamen an den Orten, wo die Mysterienkultstätten waren, die Menschen zusammen, blieben diese ganzen Osterfeiertage, und dann machten sie das Klagelied mit und bekamen am dritten Tage das Bewußtsein: Jede Seele, jedes Ich und jeder astralische Leib stehen in der geistigen Welt wiederum auf drei Tage nach dem Tode. - Es war für die Leute das Mithineinziehen in die geistige Welt, daß man sich abwendete am Osterfeste von der physischen Welt. Sehen Sie, das konnte ja auch der Zeit nach so geschehen; denn in den älteren Zeiten war es nicht so wie jetzt. Jetzt ist es so, daß die Leute gerade im Frühling das Osterfest haben, wo sie auch etwas anderes zu tun haben, wenn sie Landleute sind. Das alte Osterfest, das Adonisfest wurde gefeiert, wenn die letzten Früchte eingeerntet waren, wenn die Weinlese vorüber war, wenn die Menschen zur Winterruhe kamen; dann wollten sie aufwachen im Geiste. Da feierten sie das Adonisfest. Und dieses Adonisfest - man hat den Adonis an verschiedenen Orten verschieden genannt -, aber dieses Adonisfest, das ist überall gefeiert worden, wo alte Religionen waren. Denn alle alten Religionen haben zu den Menschen in dieser Weise von der Unsterblichkeit der Seele geredet.
[ 20 ] Nun, in den ersten christlichen Jahrhunderten wurde auch nicht ein Österfest so gefeiert wie jetzt, sondern erst allmählich, im 3., 4. Jahrhundert kam es auf. Aber da gerade haben die Menschen nichts mehr verstanden von der geistigen Welt, gar nichts mehr verstanden, sondern sie haben nur noch in die Natur schauen wollen. Sie haben sich nur noch um die Natur bekümmert. Und da haben sie gesagt: Ja, wie können wir im Herbst die Auferstehung feiern? Da aufersteht ja nichts! - Daß der Mensch aufersteht, haben sie nicht mehr gewußt, und deshalb haben sie sich gesagt: Im Herbst aufersteht ja nichts, der Schnee bedeckt alles; im Frühling aufersteht alles: da macht man das Osterfest im Frühling. - Das ist schon etwas, was aus dem Materialismus hervorgegangen ist, wenn auch noch aus einem Materialismus, der auf den Himmel hinaufschaute und das Osterfest nach Sonne und Mond fixierte. Im 3., 4. nachchristlichen Jahrhunderte war schon der Materialismus da, aber wenigstens noch ein Materialismus, der in die Welt hinausschaute, nicht der Regenwurm-Materialismus, wo der Mensch nur auf die Erde schaut - Regenwurm-Materialismus aus dem Grunde, weil die Regenwürmer ja immer unter der Erde sind und höchstens beim Regen einmal herauskommen. Und so ist es beim heutigen Menschen; die heutigen Menschen schauen auf nichts mehr als auf das, was in der Erde ist. In der ersten Zeit, wo man das Osterfest feierte, war wenigstens der Materialismus noch so, daß man geglaubt hat: Die Millionen Sterne, die haben einen Einfluß auf den Menschen. - Das ist auch vergessen worden vom 15. Jahrhundert an. Und so ist das Osterfest auf den Frühling gekommen. Und es konnte auf den Frühling kommen aus dem Grunde, weil ein gewisses Bestreben vorhanden war bei den Christen, die alten Wahrheiten ganz aus der Welt zu schaffen. Das habe ich Ihnen schon dargestellt, als ich geredet habe über das Mysterium von Golgatha: daß man eigentlich die alten Wahrheiten aus der Welt zu schaffen bestrebt war. Und so sind denn im 8., 9. nachchristlichen Jahrhunderte die Menschen ganz unwissend geworden darüber, daß das Erscheinen des Christus überhaupt etwas mit der Sonne zu tun hat.
[ 21 ] Sehen Sie, da ist es ganz interessant zu beobachten, wie es im 4. Jahrhundert hintereinander zwei Kaiser gegeben hat. Da war der Kaiser Konstantin, ein außerordentlich eitler Mensch. Der hat Konstantinopel gegründet. Einen Schatz, der einstmals von Troja nach Rom getragen worden war und dort versenkt worden ist, den hat er von Rom aus nach Konstantinopel tragen lassen, dort vergraben und darüber eine Säule aufgerichtet, auf dieser Säule eine Statue des alten heidnischen Gottes Apollo aufgestellt, aber sich vom Morgenland das Holz kommen lassen - man sagt, vom Kreuze Christi - und davon einen Strahlenkranz bilden lassen. Aber dort, wo das Holz den Strahlenkranz bilden sollte, mußten die Leute den Konstantin sehen! So daß also von da an der Konstantin verehrt worden ist, stehend auf der Bildsäule, die auf dem größten römischen Kleinodienschatz errichtet war. Der hat das äußerlich eingerichtet, daß die Leute nichts mehr gewußt haben von den Weltengeheimnissen, daß man nichts mehr davon gewußt hat, daß der Christus zusammengehörig ist mit der Sonne.
[ 22 ] Da kam der andere dazwischen, der Julianus, der seine Erziehung in den Mysterien gehabt hat, die zu seiner Zeit noch vorhanden waren, aber ein schweres Leben hatten. Während sie später ausgerottet worden sind von dem Kaiser Justinian, hatten sie schon vorher jahrhundertelang ein sehr schweres Leben. Man wollte sie nicht mehr; das Christentum war ihnen spinnefeind. Nun, jener Julianus ist aber noch erzogen worden in den Mysterien und hat noch gewußt: Es gibt nicht nur eine Sonne, sondern es gibt drei Sonnen. - Als die Leute gehört haben, daß der Julianus gesagt habe, es gibt drei Sonnen, da sind sie schon wild geworden. Denn das war ein Geheimnis der alten Mysterien.
[ 23 ] Sehen Sie, die Sonne ist zuerst der physische Körper, den Sie sehen, jener weißlich-gelbe physische Körper. Das ist zunächst der physische Körper. Aber diese Sonne hat eine Seele: das ist die zweite Sonne. Und dann ist noch die dritte Sonne da: die geistige Sonne. Wie der Mensch Leib, Seele und Geist hat, so hat auch die Sonne Leib, Seele und Geist. Julianus hat von drei Sonnen geredet und wollte, daß man das Christentum so kennenlernt, daß man weiß: der Christus ist aus der Sonne gekommen und in den Menschen Jesus erst hineingegangen.
[ 24 ] Das wünschte die Kirche nicht, daß das die Menschen wissen! Die Kirche wollte nicht die Wissenschaft von dem Christus Jesus, sondern nur dasjenige, was sie befiehlt. Und so ist es denn geschehen, daß, als der Kaiser Julian einen Zug nach Asien unternommen hat, er meuchlings ermordet worden ist, um ihn aus der Welt zu schaffen. Das hat dann dazu geführt, daß man immer diesen Julian «Julianus Apostata» nennt, den Abtrünnigen, den Ketzer: Julianus der Ketzer! Aber er wollte eben die Verbindung des Christentums mit den alten Erkenntnissen für die Menschen bestehen lassen. Er dachte sich, das Christentum kommt besser fort, wenn es Weisheitsinhalt hat, als wenn es nur die Befehle der Priester in sich hat, wenn die Menschen nur glauben sollen, was die Priester sagen. - Und so ist es denn gekommen, daß in der Zeit, als das Osterfest auf den Frühling verlegt worden ist, die Menschen zwar noch gewußt haben: das Osterfest hängt mit einer Auferstehung zusammen. Wenn sie auch nichts mehr gewußt haben von der Auferstehung des Menschen, so haben sie doch die Auferstehung der Natur gefeiert. Aber dann ist das auch vergessen worden, dort, wo das Osterfest noch gefeiert worden ist, wo man aber nicht mehr gewußt hat, was es bedeutet. Und heute ist es soweit, daß die Leute sich fragen: Warum muß das Osterfest nach Sonne, Mond und Sternen festgesetzt werden? Es soll doch einfach der erste Sonntag im April sein, dann kommen wir auch mit der Buchhaltung besser zurecht! - Nach kommerziellen Verhältnissen soll es heute festgesetzt werden! Eigentlich sind diejenigen Menschen, die dieses Osterfest nach kommerziellen Verhältnissen festsetzen wollen, ehrlicher als die andern; die andern setzen das Osterfest nach dem Himmel fest, aber wissen nichts mehr davon. Diejenigen sind die ehrlicheren, die von ihrem Standpunkte aus sagen: Das brauchen wir nicht, diese Festsetzung. Aber das ist eben das Traurige, daß wir nur deshalb ehrlich werden können, weil niemand mehr weiß, wie der Zusammenhang wirklich ist. Wir haben heute die Aufgabe, wiederum hinzuweisen darauf, daß das Geistige überall das Maßgebende ist.
[ 25 ] So hat man einmal in alten Zeiten gewartet auf den ersten Vollmond nach dem Herbstanfang. Und an dem Sonntag nach dem ersten Vollmond nach Herbstanfang, da hat man festgelegt das Adonisfest, auch nach dem Monde, nur hat man gewußt: Es ist das Gegenteil, wenn uns der Himmel den Schnee schickt - es fiel das Adonisfest immer zwischen Ende September und Ende Oktober -, dann ist es die beste Zeit, sich an die Auferstehung des Menschen zu erinnern. - Da brauchten die Menschen nicht die Auferstehung in der Natur. Aber wenigstens in der ersten Zeit des Osterfestes haben sie noch gewußt, daß das Osterfest ein Toten- und ein Auferstehungsfest ist. Das ist auch verlorengegangen.
[ 26 ] Und so muß man sagen: Eigentlich ist es schon notwendig, daß man sich bei solchen Festen wiederum erinnert, was sie einmal waren, denn wir müssen ja wiederum zum Geist kommen. Wenn wir zum Geist kommen wollen, so sollen wir nicht gedankenlos Weihnachten und das Osterfest feiern, sondern wir sollen uns schon klar sein darüber, daß das einen Sinn haben muß.
[ 27 ] Nun können wir nicht gleich die Welt auf den Kopf stellen; die Menschen würden sich auch gar nicht begeistern dafür, das Osterfest auf den Herbst zu verlegen. Aber wir können doch einen Sinn damit verbinden, daß sich der Mensch erinnert daran: Der Mensch legt seinen physischen Leib ab, wenn er durch den Tod geht, schaut zurück auf sein Erdenleben. Er legt dann den Ätherleib ab, ist dann rein geistig-seelisch in der geistigen Welt, aufersteht in der geistigen Welt. Damit aber vertieft sich auch wiederum die Auffassung des Mysteriums von Golgatha. Denn das Mysterium von Golgatha zeigt eigentlich in der äußeren Wirklichkeit, was immer im Bilde mit dem Adonisfest gezeigt worden ist. Die Alten haben ein Bild gehabt. Die Christen haben das geschichtliche Ereignis. Aber das geschichtliche Ereignis fließt ebenso ab wie die alte Bildlichkeit. Bei dem Adonisfest hat man das Bild des Adonis versenkt, nach drei Tagen wieder auferstehen lassen. Es war ein richtiges Osterfest. Dann ist aber das wirklich geschehen, was man immer im Bilde gemacht hat: Der Christus war in dem Jesus; er ist gestorben. Er ist wieder auferstanden, in der Art, wie ich es Ihnen erzählt habe. Und daran sollte man sich jetzt nur noch erinnern, jedes Jahr das Erinnerungsfest an dieses Ostern haben.
[ 28 ] Das wäre zunächst ganz gut gewesen; denn warum haben denn die Leute früher immer ein Bild bei dem Adonisfest gehabt? Weil sie eine sinnliche Anschauung brauchten. Gerade als man in den alten Zeiten noch geistig die Welt anschaute, wollte man in der Sinnlichkeit ein Bild haben. Als aber der Christus durch das Mysterium von Golgatha gegangen war, da sollte man kein Bild mehr haben, sondern sich nur im Geiste noch erinnern an das, was dort geschehen war. Es sollte mehr geistig gefeiert werden, das Osterfest. Nicht ein heidnisches Bild sollte man sich machen, sondern nur in der Seele sich erinnern. Dadurch, dachte man - und es bestanden ja noch Mysterien zur Zeit des Christus Jesus -, wird das Osterfest gerade vergeistigt. Denn schließlich, was war es denn mit dem alten Adonisfeste? Ja, sehen Sie, Sie in Europa können ja schließlich gar nicht ganz klar sehen, was solche Feste den alten Heiden waren. Denn wenn man bei Ihnen ein solches Fest wie das Adonisfest feiern würde, so würden Sie sagen: Das ist ja nur ein Bild, überhaupt ein Bild für diejenigen, die eingeweiht waren in den Mysterien; aber für die weitesten Kreise des Volkes wurde alljährlich die Statue, der Gott, hervorgeholt und untergetaucht. - Es ist daraus hervorgegangen, was man Fetischismus nennt. Solch eine Statue war ein Fetisch, eine Statue, in der ein Gott ist; die ganze Anbetung eines solchen Gegenstandes nannte man Fetischismus. Davon mußte man natürlich abkommen. Aber in einer gewissen Beziehung ist das im Christentum geblieben; denn das, was ich Ihnen als die Monstranz aufgezeichnet habe, worauf das sogenannte Sanktissimum, die Hostie, sitzt, das wird im Katholizismus als der wirkliche Christus verehrt. Man sagt: Auch physisch verwandelt sich das Brot und der Wein in den Leib und das Blut Christi. - Es ist eben noch ein Überbleibsel, nicht vom aufgeklärten Heidentum, das überall dahinter das Geistige sah, sondern von dem heruntergekommenen Heidentum, wo man den Fetischismus hatte, wo man die Bildsäule für den Gott nahm.
[ 29 ] Sehen Sie, meine Herren, ich sage: Sie haben davon gar keine Vorstellung; denn solche Dinge muß man heute wirklich erleben, um richtig denken zu können, wie stark die Leute im Glauben an einen solchen Bildsäulengott werden. Ich hatte zum Beispiel einen sehr gescheiten Professor kennengelernt - es gibt ja da auch gescheite Leute noch; gescheit sind sie eigentlich alle, nur kommen sie nicht zum Geistigen durch die heutige Wissenschaft. Der Mann war Russe, machte eine Reise durch Sibirien vom Osten herüber, von Japan herüber. Als er in die Mitte von Sibirien gekommen war, wurde es ihm etwas unbehaglich. Er fühlte sich einsam und verlassen. Was tat er da? Etwas, was Sie ganz gewiß nicht tun würden und kein Bewohner des Westens; aber er war eben ein halber Asiate, trotzdem er gelehrt war. Da machte er sich aus Holz ein Götterbild. Und dieses Götterbild nahm er auf seiner weiteren Reise mit, und das betete er wirklich an. Er machte sich einen Holzgott. Als ich den Mann kennenlernte, war er furchtbar nervös. Das hatte er bekommen von seinem Holzgott. Sie können sich das gar nicht vorstellen, was das bedeutet, einen solchen Holzgott anzubeten!
[ 30 ] Und so waren denn wirklich die Mysterien, die zur Zeit der Entstehung des Christentums da waren, darauf bedacht, daß die Leute mehr zum Geistigen kommen. Also es sollte bloß in der Erinnerung, durch Gebete, dieses aufleben, was früher vor dem Auge, den Menschen gegenüber sich abspielte im Adonisfest.
[ 31 ] Und statt daß die Sache geistig geworden wäre, ist sie leider erst recht materialistisch geworden; sie ist äußerlich geworden, formell geworden. Allmählich, im 3., 4. Jahrhundert ist das aufgekommen, daß, wenn der Karfreitag kam, die Priester gebetet haben; die Menschen wurden in allerlei Stimmungen versetzt. Und um drei Uhr nachmittags, dem Zeitpunkt, wo der Christus gestorben sein soll, da hörten dann die Glocken auf zu läuten. Alles war still. Und dann wurde doch wiederäußerlich, geradeso wie das alte Adonisfest gefeiert worden ist, nun der Crucifixus, der Christus am Kreuze, versenkt zunächst, später nur eben mit etwas bedeckt; und das Osterfest wurde dann nach drei Tagen das Auferstehungsfest. Es ist aber dasselbe, was das alte Adonisfest war, so wie es damals war. Es ist schon in der Art, wie man das feiert, nach und nach entstanden das Antreten der Herrschaft über die Seelen von Rom aus. Denn in manchen Gegenden, zum Beispiel dort, wo ich aufgewachsen bin - ich weiß nicht, ob sich es hier auch so vollzieht -, da ist es so: Wenn der Karfreitag da ist und der Christus also aufgebahrt ist, dann ziehen die Buben mit ihren Rätschen, mit den Instrumenten, die anstelle der Glocken sind, herum und rätschen und sprechen dabei die Worte:
[ 32 ] Wir rätschen, wir rätschen am Dom. Die Glocken ziehen nach Rom.
[ 33 ] Also, daß alles auf Rom hintendiert wird, das tritt gerade am stärksten bei jedem Osterfest für jeden einzelnen auf.
[ 34 ] Und das ist gerade die Aufgabe des gegenwärtigen Menschen, aus dem Materialismus wiederum herauszukommen zu einem geistigen Erkenntnisleben, die Dinge geistig aufzufassen lernen, also auch so etwas wie das Osterfest geistig aufzufassen. Und sehen Sie: Warum wird das Osterfest gefeiert? Jedes Jahr beim Osterfest kann man sich erinnern, daß der Mensch, wenn er durch den Tod geht und die Totenklage, die Chara eintritt, die Totenklage zum Gedächtnis dafür sein soll, daß der Mensch von der physischen Welt weggeht. Aber er schaut nur noch drei Tage auf die physische Welt zurück; dann legt er als zweiten Leichnam seinen Ätherleib ab. Dann steht er als Ich und astralischer Leib in der geistigen Welt auf. Daran muß man sich auch erinnern. Nun wäre es trostlos, brutal, wenn man jedesmal, wenn ein Mensch stirbt, nach drei Tagen gleich Lustgesänge anstimmte. Aber man kann sich dennoch erinnern an solche Lustgesänge, wenn man im allgemeinen an die Unsterblichkeit der menschlichen Seele denkt, wie sie nach drei Tagen aufersteht in der geistigen Welt.
[ 35 ] Und daraus sind auch viele merkwürdige Dinge entstanden. Sehen Sie, es hängt dadurch das Osterfest mit jedem einzelnen Menschentod zusammen. Für jeden einzelnen Menschentod sollte eigentlich das da sein, daß man sich sagt: Wir trauern; aber es kommt das Osterfest. Da werden wir uns erinnern daran, daß jede Seele wieder aufersteht in der geistigen Welt, nachdem sie gestorben ist. Nun, Sie werden wissen, dasjenige Fest, das an den Tod aller Menschen erinnert, das wird heute noch im Herbst gefeiert: der sogenannte Allerseelentag. Dem hat man noch, als man nichts mehr davon wußte, daß das Osterfest dazugehört, den Allerheiligentag vorausgeschoben, eingesetzt. Aber die zwei Dinge gehören zusammen, und eigentlich muß man den Allerseelentag als den Totentag feiern, und das Osterfest als den Auferstehungstag. Diese Dinge gehören zusammen, Sie sind mehr als ein halbes Jahr auseinandergerissen! So kann man oftmals aus der heutigen Einteilung des Jahres nicht mehr verstehen, was eigentlich hinter diesen Sachen dahinterliegt.
[ 36 ] Aber sehen Sie, es ist einmal so, daß alles auf der Erde sich nicht nach der Erde selber, sondern nach dem Himmel richtet. Man verwundert sich ja, wenn es zu Ostern noch schneit; da sollte es eigentlich nicht mehr schneien, sondern da sollten die Pflanzen schon heraussprießen, weil man weiß: das Osterfest soll eben ein Erinnerungsfest an die Auferstehung, an die Unsterblichkeit der Menschenseele sein.
[ 37 ] Wenn man so die Sache anschaut, dann kommt wiederum Gefühls- und Gemütsinhalt in das ganze Osterfest hinein. Und dann können die Menschen, die das Osterfest feiern, sich bei dem Osterfest an etwas erinnern, was mit dem Menschen selber zusammenhängt. Dann ist das Osterfest ein Kraftfest, und dann weiß man, warum man sich an es erinnert. Heute weiß man, daß der Mensch mit dem Jahre zusammenhängt, nur dadurch, daß er sich im Winter den Winterrock, im Sommer den Sommerrock anziehen muß, daß er im Sommer schwitzt, im Winter friert. Also nur das Materielle weiß man. Daß aber wirklich, wenn der Frühling herankommt, geistige Kräfte wirksam sind, die alles herausholen aus der Erde, und daß im Herbst wiederum geistige Kräfte alles vernichten, das weiß man nicht. Wird das einmal verstanden werden, so wird man in der ganzen Natur Leben finden, die ganze Natur belebt finden. Heute reden die Leute über die Natur ja meist Unsinn. Wenn sie eine Pflanze sehen, dann reißen sie sie aus der Erde aus und treiben Botanik, weil sie gar nichts wissen über die Sache. Wenn ich ein Haar ausreiße und es beschreibe, so ist das ein Unsinn, denn das Haar kann nur auf dem Menschen oder auf einem Tiere wachsen, kann nicht für sich entstehen; Sie können nicht irgendwo an einen leblosen Stein etwas hinbringen, wo ein Haar wachsen soll. Da muß ein Lebendiges zugrunde liegen. Nun, die Pflanzen sind also die Haare der Erde, weil die Erde lebt. Und so wie der Mensch die Luft braucht zum Leben, so braucht die Erde den Sternenschein mit seiner Geistigkeit; den atmet sie ein, damit sie leben kann. Und so wie der Mensch auf der Erde herumgeht mit seiner Bewegung, so geht die Erde im Weltenraum herum. Sie lebt im ganzen Weltenraum. Die Erde ist ein lebendiges Wesen.
[ 38 ] So können wir sagen, wenigstens das kann noch beim Osterfest erreicht werden, daß man sich erinnert: Die Erde selbst ist ein lebendiges Wesen. Wenn sie die Pflanzen hervortreibt, wird sie jung, wie das Kind jung ist, wenn es die frischen Haare bekommt. Der Greis verliert die Haare, wie die Erde im Herbst die Pflanzen verliert. - Das ist ein Leben, das nur in anderer Weise eingerichtet ist rhythmisch, Jugendleben im Frühling, Greisenleben im Herbste, wiederum Jugendleben, wiederum Greisenleben. Beim Menschen dauert das nur länger. Und so lebt eigentlich alles im Weltenraum. Und wenn Sie an Ostern denken, so denken Sie, daß uns das Osterfest - heute wenigstens - das sein kann, wo wir aus dem Anblick der neu erwachenden Natur uns sagen: Nicht wahr ist es, daß alles tot ist. Es müssen nur die Wesen durch den Tod durchgehen. Das Ursprüngliche ist das Leben. Überall siegt das Leben doch über den Tod. Und das Osterfest soll uns an diesen Sieg des Lebens über den Tod erinnern und uns dadurch Kraft geben. - Wenn so die Menschen wiederum in dieser Weise Kraft gewinnen, dann werden sie auch schon zur Verbesserung der äußeren Verhältnisse mit Vernunft vorgehen können, nicht so, wie es heute vielfach geschieht. Aber zuerst brauchen wir dieses Geistige in der Geisteswissenschaft, damit wir wiederum in Einklang kommen mit der geistigen Welt, die wiederum lebt und nicht tot ist.
[ 39 ] In diesem Sinne, meine Herren, möchte ich Ihnen auch ein recht schönes Osterfest wünschen, das wirklich in Ihren Seelen so schön ist, so schön wie die Frühlingsblumen, die aus der Erde herauswachsen! Nach Ostern werden wir uns dann wieder über wissenschaftliche Fragen unterhalten.
[ 40 ] Man soll also im Osterfeste empfinden: Der Mensch kann wieder mit frischem Mut und mit Freude an die Arbeit herangehen. Wenn auch oft nicht so Gelegenheit ist heute, sich auf die Arbeit zu freuen, so doch vielleicht hier! Hier ist vielleicht doch die Gelegenheit, wo man sich auch auf die Arbeit freuen kann! Aber jedenfalls, meine Herren, wollte ich Sie noch sehen, um Ihnen das zu sagen, und um Ihnen aus dem Geiste, den man aus der Geisteswissenschaft gewinnen kann, ein recht schönes Osterfest zu wünschen! Auf Wiedersehen nach Ostern!
About Easter
[ 1 ] Good morning, gentlemen! Since I won't be here next week because I have to be in Bern, I actually wanted to tell you something today that is related to what we have already discussed about Easter. Or do you have another question about something that is particularly important now?
[ 2 ] Mr. Burle: I actually also had something to ask, but it is not related to Easter. A newspaper article recently came from Paris, where it is written that it is possible to read with the skin, to see. Can the doctor say something about this? I was very surprised to hear this.
[ 3 ] Dr. Steiner: Well, when you hear about something like this in a newspaper article, you naturally have to be careful at first. Things have to be checked. So it's about the fact that certain personalities – now the man claims: all personalities – can be made to see with the skin, to be able to read with any part of the skin.
[ 4 ] But this is something that has been known for a long time and that can be done with certain personalities, so that if you train personalities for it, train them properly for it, you can create the ability to read with the skin, with any part of the skin. But now I would like to take this opportunity to point out that one should not be too surprised at such things. Because you just have to consider: people do not learn everything they can; they do not train it. And you can train some things very quickly if you set out to do so. Of course, you could train all children to read with their fingers if you start with the simple letters and let the children feel the paper. At the point where the letter is not, the paper is quite different from where the letter is. Just suppose you make letters that stick out a little, are scratched out of the paper - why shouldn't you be able to read them easily! Because if you make letters out of wood, you can also read by touching them with your eyes closed. And this gift just needs to be refined a little.
[ 5 ] See, for example, as a boy I practiced something that very few people practice: holding a pencil between the big toe and the next toe and writing with it. You can learn that too. You can learn all these things that you don't learn otherwise, and that's how certain abilities arise; they become more refined, and that's how something arises that makes you think you should be amazed. But there's nothing to be amazed about. It's based on the development of the sense of touch. You can touch with every part of your body. Just as you can feel a stitch with a needle, you can also feel the small scratches that form the letters. And in this way, something like this can be developed.
[ 6 ] But in this case it is not quite the same, because the man claims that he can evoke in all persons the ability to really learn to read with their skin. Now that description is not quite accurate enough to check all the details. Once a scientific explanation has been published, it will be easier to say whether it is true that if you put a page from a book on your stomach, you can read it. You just have to recognize whether it is a very fine sense of feeling, of touch, that can be developed, or whether the man is lying. What is behind it cannot be gathered from the description. I was not so much surprised by this report because I can imagine that it could be possible; but what did surprise me was the stupid comment that the journalists made about it: if it were really true, then it would have been found long ago. - Can someone say, when the telephone is found, for example: If it were really true, then it would have been found long ago, then mankind would have known about it long ago? What surprised me much more was that such a statement is possible than the thing itself. The thing itself is not so wonderful, because a person can learn a great deal for his organs of feeling, for his sense of touch. Because people just do not notice what depends on them focusing their eyes on something when judging objects. For example, the fingers can be trained to perceive all kinds of things. So a judgment about whether the man who claims that he can make any part of the body see is actually able to do so through years of training or not must be based on real science. I have read German, English and French newspaper reports about this; it is not possible to tell from them whether the man is insane or a fraud or a truly scientific person. That is the matter. Now I would like to say something to you about Easter. Easter is so suitable for this because we can tie in with what we have been saying about the Mystery of Golgotha, because, as you know, Easter is a so-called movable feast. It is celebrated at a different time each year. It varies. Why does it vary? It varies because it is not determined according to earthly conditions, but according to heavenly conditions. It is determined by asking: When is the beginning of spring? The beginning of spring is, of course, always March 21. So Easter is not set before spring begins. But then you wait – so the beginning of spring is always on March 21 – until the full moon comes. When the full moon comes, you wait again until the next Sunday and set Easter Sunday as the Sunday that is the first Sunday after the first full moon after the beginning of spring. Now the first full moon can fall on March 22; then the next Sunday is Easter Sunday for us because it is the first Sunday after the spring full moon. Then Easter is very, very early. But the full moon can also fall as late as twenty-nine days after March 21. If, for example, the full moon is on March 19, the spring equinox comes first, and then the full moon comes twenty-eight days later. Then the next Sunday after four weeks is Easter Sunday. So Easter falls well into April. This means that Easter can fall between March 21 and the end of April. It fluctuates back and forth.
[ 7 ] Now, gentlemen, why was Easter fixed according to what it is like in the sky? Yes, that is connected with what I have already told you, that in the past they knew that the moon and the sun have an influence on everything on earth.
[ 8 ] Consider a plant growing out of the earth. If there is earth (see drawing), then, if you want to have the plant, take a very small seed and put it in there. The whole plant, the whole life of the plant, is concentrated in this small seed. What becomes of this seed? First the root. There the whole life expands to the root.
[ 9 ] Then, however, it contracts again and a stem grows out of it. Then it expands again and the leaves develop. Then the flower develops. And then it contracts again in the seed, which waits until the next year. So what do we have in the plant? We have expansion, contraction, expansion, contraction, expansion, contraction.
[ 10 ] Now, every time the plant expands, it is the sun, for example, that pulls out the leaf; every time the plant contracts, whether it is the seed or the stem, it is the moon that causes this contraction. So there between the leaves, that is where the moon is at work. So that we can say, when we get such a plant, where the leaves are spread out, where the root is spread out – first with the seed: the moon, then: the sun, again moon, again sun, again moon, sun, and it concludes with the moon. So that in every plant we can alternately notice: the sun's activity, the moon's activity, the sun's forces, the moon's forces. So we look around us at the field with the growing plants and see the actions of the sun and moon. I have told you: even when a person comes into the world, the way he is formed in his physical body depends on the moon; the forces he has within to transform himself depend on the sun. I told you this when I described the Mystery of Golgotha.
[ 11 ] Yes, you see, people knew that in the past; they have only forgotten it. People used to say: When is the greatest power present in spring so that plants can flourish properly and flourish most beneficially for humans? When the sun and moon work together properly. That is the case when the full moon shines on the earth with its full radiation for the first time and supports the sun's rays. So the sun and moon come together when the sun, which has its greatest power in spring, and the moon, which always has its greatest power after four weeks, work together properly; therefore Easter on Sunday, which was dedicated to the sun, after the spring full moon. So, when Easter was fixed, it was known that it was something that should be fixed as the beginning of spring after the winter solstice.
[ 12 ] Now Easter did not originate in Christian times, but actually emerged from an ancient pagan festival, from the festival that I have already hinted at, and which I will now describe in more detail: the so-called Adonis festival. What was the Adonis festival about? You see, gentlemen, the Adonis festival was established from the art, teaching and religious centers that I have described to you as the mysteries. And Adonis was a kind of image that people made for that in man which is spiritual-soul. So, one imagined that which is spiritual-soul in man under Adonis. And they thought: Yes, but what is spiritual-soul in man also corresponds to the whole world. And one must only take into account that the Adonis festival, which is similar to our present Easter, originated with the ancient pagans, who still took into account the whole spiritual situation, in such a way that they celebrated it in autumn! So the old Easter festival was celebrated in autumn. And it was celebrated in the following way.
[ 13 ] It was celebrated by taking an image of this eternal, immortal part of man, the spiritual-soul part, dipped it into a pond or into seawater if it was on the coast, left it there for three days, and the lowering of the image was accompanied by people singing dirges and lamentations. This lowering of the image was associated with a solemnity such as can otherwise be observed when someone from a close family or friendship circle dies - a real funeral feast. And that was always celebrated on a day that we today call a Friday. The name Good Friday actually only came about when the event spread to Central Europe, to the Germanic areas, to the German areas. And “kar” comes from kara, and kara actually means lament. So it is Lament Friday.
[ 14 ] What this thing originally was, people today know so little about that the English call this Friday Good Friday, while in ancient times it was called the Friday of the dead, the Friday of mourning, the Friday of lamentation. It was a real festival of the dead that was celebrated for Adonis. And where there was no water at all, they made some kind of artificial water where they could dip their image – it was a statue – and take it out again after three days, namely after Sunday. You see, gentlemen, that was a real festival of the dead.
[ 15 ] Then, when it was taken out, songs of joy were sung, real songs of joy. So that within three days every human soul went through what had caused the greatest sorrow, and after three days the greatest joy. They sang songs of joy. And the content of these songs of joy was always that they said: The god has risen again!
[ 16 ] Yes, gentlemen, what did this festival mean? – I must always emphasize: it was first celebrated in autumn – what did this festival mean?
[ 17 ] Well, I have told you the following on other occasions: When a person dies, he discards his physical body. When a person dies, his relatives and friends grieve, and depending on the nature of the people, a funeral ceremony such as these people held at the Adonis immersion will naturally arise. Only something else is missing. I have already told you: for three days after his death, the human being remains in such a way that he looks back on his life on earth. He has shed his physical body, but he still has his etheric body. This grows larger and larger and finally evaporates into the world. Then the human being is only in his astral body and in his ego.
[ 18 ] The people who established the Adonis festival said to themselves: People should know that a person does not only die when his physical body dies, but that he rises again after three days in the spiritual world. And so that people become aware of this every year, that is why the Adonis Festival has been established. At the Adonis Festival in the fall, people would say: You see, nature is dying. The trees are losing their leaves, the earth is covering itself with snow, cold, cutting winds are coming, the earth is losing its fertility; it looks just as if the physical human being is dying. But if you look at the earth, you have to wait until spring for it to resurrect. If you look at the human being, he rises again in soul and spirit after three days. This must come to consciousness. That is why there is a festival of the dead, and immediately afterwards a festival of resurrection – but in the fall, when you can make it clear to people that man is the opposite of nature. Nature must submit; it remains dead the whole winter because it is only nature; after death, man lives on in the spiritual world, enters into opposition to nature. When nature peels off, becomes snowy, when nature has the cold winds, then one must make man aware: you are different from nature; if you die, you will rise again in three days.
[ 19 ] This was a beautiful festival throughout ancient times. In the places where the mystery cults were, people would gather, stay for the entire Easter holidays, and then join in the lament and on the third day they would gain the awareness that every soul, every ego and every astral body in the spiritual world rises again three days after death. It was for the people the involvement into the spiritual world that they turned away from the physical world at Easter. You see, that could also happen according to the time, because in the older times it was not as it is now. Now it is the case that people have Easter in spring, when they also have something else to do if they are country folk. The old Easter festival, the Adonis festival, was celebrated when the last fruits had been harvested, when the grape harvest was over, when people were coming to their winter rest; then they wanted to awaken in spirit. That's when they celebrated the Adonis festival. And this Adonis festival – Adonis was called by different names in different places – but this Adonis festival was celebrated wherever ancient religions existed. For all ancient religions spoke to people about the immortality of the soul in this way.
[ 20 ] Now, in the first Christian centuries, Easter was not celebrated as it is now either, but only gradually emerged in the 3rd and 4th centuries. But at that time people no longer understood anything about the spiritual world, they no longer understood anything at all, but they only wanted to look at nature. They only cared about nature. And so they said: Yes, how can we celebrate the resurrection in the fall? Nothing rises then! They no longer knew that man rises again, and so they said to themselves: In the fall, nothing rises, everything is covered by snow; in the spring everything rises: so they celebrate Easter in the spring. That is something that emerged from materialism, albeit from a materialism that looked up to heaven and fixed Easter to the sun and moon. In the third and fourth centuries AD, materialism was already there, but at least it was still a materialism that looked out into the world, not the earthworm materialism in which man only looks at the earth – I call it the earthworm materialism because earthworms are always under the earth and only come out when it rains. And so it is with today's people; today's people no longer look at anything but what is in the earth. In the early days of celebrating Easter, at least materialism was still such that it was believed that the millions of stars have an influence on people. That has also been forgotten from the 15th century onwards. And so Easter came to be associated with spring. And it could be associated with spring because of the fact that there was a certain tendency among the Christians to eliminate the old truths from the world altogether. I have already explained this to you when I talked about the Mystery of Golgotha: that people actually endeavored to eliminate the old truths from the world. And so it was that in the eighth and ninth centuries after Christ people had become completely ignorant of the fact that the appearance of the Christ has anything whatever to do with the sun.
[ 21 ] You see, it is quite interesting to observe how there were two emperors in succession in the 4th century. There was Emperor Constantine, an extraordinarily vain man. He founded Constantinople. He had a treasure that had once been carried from Troy to Rome and sunk there, carried from Rome to Constantinople, buried there and a column erected over it. On this column he placed a statue of the old pagan god Apollo, but he had the wood come from the Orient - they say from the cross of Christ - and had an aureole formed from it. But where the wood was to form the aureole, the people had to see Constantine! So that from that time on Constantine was worshiped, standing on the statue that was erected on the largest Roman treasure trove. He arranged it outwardly so that people no longer knew anything about the secrets of the world, that no one knew any more about the fact that the Christ belongs together with the sun.
[ 22 ] Then the other one, Julianus, who had been educated in the mysteries, which still existed in his time but were a difficult life, intervened. Although they were later eradicated by the Emperor Justinian, they had already had a very difficult life for centuries. They were no longer wanted; Christianity was their archenemy. Well, Julianus was still educated in the mysteries and still knew: there is not only one sun, but there are three suns. When people heard that Julianus had said that there were three suns, they went wild. Because that was a secret of the old mysteries.
[ 23 ] You see, the sun is first of all the physical body that you see, that whitish-yellow physical body. That is the physical body to start with. But this sun has a soul: that is the second sun. And then there is also the third sun: the spiritual sun. Just as a person has a body, soul and spirit, so the sun also has a body, soul and spirit. Julianus spoke of three suns and wanted people to learn about Christianity in such a way that they would know: the Christ came from the sun and entered into the man Jesus.
[ 24 ] The Church did not want people to know that! The Church did not want the science of Christ Jesus, but only what it commands. And so it happened that when the Emperor Julian undertook a campaign in Asia, he was treacherously murdered in order to eliminate him from the world. This led to the fact that this Julian is always called “Julianus Apostata”, the apostate, the heretic: Julianus the heretic! But he just wanted to keep the connection of Christianity with the old knowledge for the people. He thought to himself, Christianity is better off when it has the content of wisdom, than when it only has the orders of the priests in itself, when people should only believe what the priests say. And so it came about that in the time when Easter was moved to spring, people still knew that Easter was connected with a resurrection. Even if they no longer knew anything about the resurrection of man, they still celebrated the resurrection of nature. But then that was also forgotten, where Easter was still celebrated, but where people no longer knew what it meant. And today it has come to the point where people wonder: Why does Easter have to be fixed according to the sun, moon and stars? It should just be the first Sunday in April, then we can manage the bookkeeping better! - According to commercial circumstances, it should be fixed today! Actually, those people who want to set this Easter according to commercial conditions are more honest than the others; the others set Easter according to the sky, but no longer know anything about it. Those who say from their point of view: We don't need this setting are the more honest ones. But that is precisely the sad thing, that we can only become honest because no one knows anymore what the real context is. Today we have the task of pointing out once again that the spiritual is the decisive factor everywhere.
[ 25 ] Thus, in ancient times, people waited for the first full moon after the beginning of autumn. And on the Sunday after the first full moon after the beginning of autumn, the Feast of Adonis was fixed, also according to the moon, only they knew: It is the opposite when heaven sends us snow - the Feast of Adonis always fell between the end of September and the end of October - then it is the best time to remember the resurrection of man. At that time, people did not need the resurrection in nature. But at least in the early days of Easter, they still knew that Easter was a festival of the dead and a resurrection festival. That has also been lost.
[ 26 ] And so we have to say: Actually, it is necessary to remember what such festivals once were, because we must return to the spirit. If we want to return to the spirit, we should not thoughtlessly celebrate Christmas and Easter, but we should be clear about the fact that it must have a meaning.
[ 27 ] Now we cannot turn the world upside down; people would not be enthusiastic about moving Easter to the fall. But we can associate a meaning with it, so that the human being remembers: when he passes through death, he lays aside his physical body and looks back on his life on earth. He then lays aside his etheric body and is then purely spiritual-soul in the spiritual world, resurrected in the spiritual world. But with that, the perception of the Mystery of Golgotha is also deepened. For the Mystery of Golgotha actually shows in outer reality what was always shown in the image with the Adonis festival. The ancients had an image. The Christians have the historical event. But the historical event takes place just as the old image does. At the Adonis festival, the image of Adonis was immersed and resurrected after three days. It was a real Easter celebration. But then what was always done in the image actually happened: the Christ was in the Jesus; he died. He was resurrected in the way I have told you. And now people should only remember this, have the memorial celebration of this Easter every year.
[ 28 ] That would have been all right for the time being, but why did people in the past always have an image at the Adonis festival? Because they needed a sensual image. Precisely at the time when people still looked at the world spiritually, they wanted to have an image in the sensual realm. But after Christ had passed through the Mystery of Golgotha, there should no longer be any image, but only a remembrance in the spirit of what had happened there. Easter should be celebrated more spiritually. One should not make a pagan image, but only remember in the soul. In this way, one thought - and mysteries still existed at the time of Christ Jesus - the Easter festival would become more spiritual. After all, what was it about the old Adonis festival? Yes, you see, you in Europe cannot see clearly what such festivals were to the ancient pagans. Because if you were to celebrate a festival like the Adonis festival, you would say: It is only an image, an image for those who were initiated into the mysteries; but for the widest circles of the people, the statue, the god, was brought out and immersed every year. - This is what gave rise to what is called fetishism. Such a statue was a fetish, a statue in which there is a god; the entire worship of such an object was called fetishism. Of course, one had to get away from that. But in a certain respect, that has remained in Christianity; for what I have drawn for you as the monstrance, on which the so-called sanctum, the host, sits, is venerated in Catholicism as the real Christ. They say that the bread and wine are also physically transformed into the body and blood of Christ. It is still a relic, not of enlightened paganism, which always saw the spiritual behind it, but of degraded paganism, which had fetishism and took a statue for a god.
[ 29 ] You see, gentlemen, I say: you have no idea of it; for today one must really experience such things in order to think correctly about how strong people become in their belief in such a graven image god. For example, I had met a very clever professor – there are still clever people around, actually they are all clever, they just don't get to the spiritual side through today's science. The man was Russian, traveling through Siberia from the east, from Japan. When he came to the middle of Siberia, he felt a little uncomfortable. He felt lonely and abandoned. What did he do? Something you would certainly not do and no inhabitant of the West would do either; but he was half Asian, despite being well educated. He made himself an idol out of wood. And he took this idol with him on his further journey, and he really worshipped it. He made himself a wooden god. When I met the man, he was terribly nervous. He had gotten that from his wooden god. You can't even begin to imagine what it means to worship a wooden god like that.
[ 30 ] And so the mysteries that existed at the time of the origin of Christianity were really intended to bring people more to the spiritual. So it should only be revived in memory, through prayers, what used to take place in front of the eye, towards people, in the Adonis festival.
[ 31 ] And instead of the matter becoming spiritual, unfortunately it became even more materialistic; it became external, formal. Gradually, in the 3rd and 4th centuries, it arose that when Good Friday came, the priests prayed; people were put into all kinds of moods. And at three o'clock in the afternoon, the time when Christ is supposed to have died, the bells stopped ringing. Everything was silent. And then, just as the old Adonis festival was celebrated, the crucifixus, Christ on the cross, was first buried and then only covered with something; and Easter became the Feast of Resurrection after three days. But it is the same as the ancient Adonis festival was, just as it was back then. It has gradually emerged from the way it is celebrated, the assumption of dominion over souls from Rome. For in some areas, for example where I grew up – I don't know if it's the same here – it's like this: when Good Friday arrives and the Christ is laid out, then the boys go around with their rattles, the instruments that are used instead of bells, and rattle and say the words:
[ 32 ] We rattle, we rattle at the cathedral. The bells are going to Rome.
[ 33 ] So that everything is geared towards Rome, this occurs most strongly for each individual at every Easter festival.
[ 34 ] And that is precisely the task of the present human being: to emerge from materialism again and enter into a life of spiritual knowledge, to learn to grasp things spiritually, and thus also to grasp something like Easter spiritually. And you see: Why is Easter celebrated? Every year at Easter, we can remember that when a person passes away and the dirge, the Chara, begins, the dirge is to commemorate the fact that the person is leaving the physical world. But he only looks back at the physical world for three days; then he lays down his etheric body as a second corpse. Then he rises in the spiritual world as I and astral body. This must also be remembered. Now it would be bleak and brutal if, every time a person dies, people immediately started singing songs of joy after three days. But one can still remember such songs of joy when one thinks in general of the immortality of the human soul, how it rises again in the spiritual world after three days.
[ 35 ] And many strange things have arisen from this. You see, Easter is connected with every single human death. For every single human death there should actually be the thought that we grieve, but Easter is coming. Then we will remember that every soul rises again in the spiritual world after it has died. Now, you will know that the festival that commemorates the death of all people is still celebrated today in the fall: the so-called All Souls' Day. Even when people no longer knew that Easter was part of it, they had moved All Saints' Day forward and established it. But the two things belong together, and actually All Souls' Day should be celebrated as the Day of the Dead, and Easter as the Day of Resurrection. These things belong together, they are more than half a year apart! So often one can no longer understand from today's division of the year what actually lies behind these things.
[ 36 ] But you see, everything on earth is not directed towards the earth itself, but towards heaven. One is indeed surprised when it still snows at Easter; it should actually no longer snow, but the plants should already be sprouting, because one knows: Easter is supposed to be a celebration commemorating the resurrection, the immortality of the human soul.
[ 37 ] When you look at it this way, the whole Easter festival takes on an emotional and spiritual content. And then people who celebrate Easter can remember something that is connected with the human being itself. Then Easter is a festival of strength, and then one knows why one remembers it. Today we know that the human being is connected with the year only by the fact that in winter he has to put on a winter coat and in summer a summer coat, that he sweats in summer and freezes in winter. So only the material is known. But that really, when spring approaches, spiritual forces are effective, which get everything out of the earth, and that in turn in the fall spiritual forces destroy everything, that is not known. Once this is understood, life will be found in all of nature, all of nature will be found to be alive. Today people mostly talk nonsense about nature. When they see a plant, they tear it out of the ground and do botany because they know nothing about the matter. If I pluck out a hair and describe it, it is nonsense, because the hair can only grow on a human or animal, it cannot arise by itself; you cannot bring something to a lifeless stone somewhere where a hair is to grow. There must be something alive underneath. Now, the plants are the hair of the earth, because the earth is alive. And just as man needs air to live, so the earth needs the radiance of the stars with its spirituality; it breathes that in so that it can live. And just as man walks around on the earth with his movement, so the earth walks around in space. It lives in all of space. The earth is a living being.
[ 38 ] So we can say that at Easter we can at least still achieve this: we remember that the Earth itself is a living being. When it drives out the plants, it becomes young, as the child is young when it gets fresh hair. The old man loses his hair, as the earth loses its plants in autumn. That is a life that is only arranged differently: youth lives in spring, old age in autumn, youth again, old age again. In the case of humans, it just takes longer. And so, in fact, everything in the universe lives. And when you think of Easter, think that Easter, at least today, can be a time when we, looking at nature as it awakens anew, can say: It is not true that everything is dead. Only the beings must go through death. The original is life. Everywhere, life triumphs over death. And Easter is meant to remind us of this victory of life over death and thereby give us strength. If people can gain strength in this way, then they will be able to act with reason, not as is often the case today, even when it comes to improving external conditions. But first we need this spiritual in spiritual science, so that we can come into harmony with the spiritual world again, which in turn is alive and not dead.
[ 39 ] In this sense, gentlemen, I would also like to wish you a very happy Easter, one that is truly beautiful in your souls, as beautiful as the spring flowers that grow out of the earth! After Easter, we will talk about scientific questions again.
[ 40 ] So one should feel at Easter: Man can approach work again with fresh courage and joy. Even if there is often no opportunity to look forward to work today, perhaps there is here! Here is perhaps the opportunity where one can look forward to work after all! But in any case, gentlemen, I wanted to see you to tell you this, and to wish you a very happy Easter from the spirit that can be gained from spiritual science! See you after Easter!