Reading the Pictures of the Apocalypse
GA 104a
16 May 1909, Kristiania
Lecture II-VII
Today we will consider a more occult side of yesterday's observations. The first four post-Atlantean cultures had the task of reflecting in human souls the great cosmic processes that had taken place in the course of time. In our cultural period, on the other hand, from the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries onward, we no longer incorporate such a reflection. For what takes place externally in the evolution of humankind can be traced back to deeper causes.
We know that the etheric bodies of the great Atlantean initiates were preserved for the seven holy Rishis; we also know that the etheric body and astral body of Zarathustra were woven into Moses and Hermes. The possibility has always existed for etheric bodies, which have been transformed and prepared by initiates, to be used further in the spiritual economy of the world.1Compare the lectures found in The Principle of Spiritual Economy (GA 109) (Hudson, N.Y.: Anthroposophic Press, 1986). Other things have also happened. Special etheric bodies are formed in higher worlds for especially important individuals. When someone was essential for a special mission to humanity, such a special etheric body or astral body was woven in higher worlds and then imprinted into him or her.
This is what happened to Sem, who actually had something to do with the entire tribe of the Semites. A special etheric body was formed for such a progenitor of a tribe. Because of this Sem was a kind of double personality. As incredible as it may sound to modern thinking, to a clairvoyant a personality such as Sem appeared, with his aura, like an ordinary man whose etheric body was filled by a higher being reaching down from higher worlds. In this way the man's aura became a mediator between his personality and higher worlds. When dwelling in a human being such a divine being has a very special power. He can reproduce a particular etheric body, and these reproduced etheric bodies then form a fabric that is again and again woven into the descendants. In this way the descendants of Sem were endowed with copies of his etheric body. But the etheric body of Sem himself, not only the reproduced copies, was also preserved in the mysteries. Then, any special individual who had been assigned a special mission had to use this etheric body in order to make himself understood to the Semitic people, just as highly educated Europeans would have to learn the language of the Hottentots in order to make themselves understood to them. The individuals given a special mission therefore had to carry within them the real etheric body of Sem in order to make themselves understood to the Semitic people. An example of such a personality would be Melchizedek,2Melchizedek: Compare, among others, the lecture of September 4, 1910 in The Gospel of St. Matthew (GA 123) (Hudson, N.Y.: Anthroposophic Press, 1965). who could only show himself to Abraham in the etheric body of Sem.
We must now ask ourselves the question: If only now, in the fifth post-Atlantean cultural epoch, an understanding for Christianity can be developed, then what was the understanding in the rest of the Greek and Latin age that lasted until the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries?
There is a mysterious occult process taking place here. Christ lived, of course, for only three years in the body of Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus was such a highly developed individuality that he could leave the physical world in the thirtieth year of his life in order to enter the spiritual world just as the dove appeared over his head. The three highly developed bodies, physical, etheric, and astral, left behind by Jesus were then filled by the individuality of Christ through the fact that he lived in the physical human body. These bodies of Jesus of Nazareth, invisible to the physical eye, were then replicated in a way similar to what happened to the etheric body of Sem. As a result, since the death on the cross, there exist copies of the etheric and astral bodies of Jesus of Nazareth. This has nothing to do with his I, which went on into the spiritual world and later continued incarnating.
In the first centuries after the Christ event we see how Christian writers were still working on the basis of a tradition passed on orally from the disciples of the Apostles. They placed value on tradition passed on through physical means. But later centuries could not have built upon these alone. Especially from the sixth and seventh centuries onward, great proclaimers of Christianity had a copy of the etheric body of Jesus of Nazareth woven into them. Augustine was such a man. In his youth he had to go through mighty battles. Then the impulse of the etheric body of Jesus of Nazareth became active in him in a very significant way; only then did he begin to generate Christian mysticism out of himself. His writings can only be understood in this light.
Many personalities have walked on the earth bearing such a copy within themselves. Columba, Gallus, Patrick3The great Irish missionaries.—they all carried such a copy of the etheric body within them and for just this reason were in a position to spread Christianity. In this way a bridge was built from the Christ event to succeeding times.
In the eleventh and twelfth centuries we then see people who received into their own astral bodies the astral body of Jesus of Nazareth. Francis of Assisi was one such special person. When we follow his life we will find much that is not understandable. But we can understand especially his humility, his Christian devotion if we realize that such a mystery lived in him. Around the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth centuries such people became proclaimers of Christianity through this interweaving of astral bodies. They received Christianity through grace.
The I of Jesus of Nazareth left the three sheaths at the baptism in the Jordan. Nevertheless, an image of this I, like the imprint of a seal, remained in the three sheaths. The Christ being took possession of these three bodies but he also took possession of something else, something that remained behind like an imprint of the I of Jesus. From the twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth centuries on, something like a copy of Jesus' I4Compare the descriptions found in the lecture “More Intimate Aspects of Reincarnation” in The Principle of Spiritual Economy (GA 109). was woven into those men who then began to speak of an “inner Christ.” Meister Eckhart and Johannes Tauler were speaking out of their inner experience of something like an imprint of the I of Jesus of Nazareth.
Although there are still many people present today carrying something like a copy of the various bodies of Jesus of Nazareth, they no longer become leading personalities. More and more we see how in our fifth age there are people who must rely on themselves, on their own I. Such inspired people will become increasingly rare. Therefore, steps were taken to provide for the future so that a particular spiritual stream could arise in our time, a spiritual stream with the task of insuring that spiritual knowledge will still reach humanity. Those individuals who could see into the future had to provide for human beings who are wholly dependent on their merely human I. We are told in a legend that the vessel used by Christ Jesus with his disciples at the Last Supper was preserved. This is the legend of the Holy Grail. We see in the story of Parzival an expression of a pupil's typical path of development in our fifth post-Atlantean age. Parzival neglected to do one thing. He had been told that he should not ask questions. That is the important transition from the old age to the new. In ancient India, a devotion as passive as possible was necessary for the pupil; this was also true in Augustine's time and in the time of Francis of Assisi. All of these humble people let themselves be inspired by what lived in them, what had been woven into them. But now the I must carry the question in itself. Every soul today that passively receives what is given to it cannot go beyond itself. It can only observe what is going on in the physical world around it. Today the soul must ask questions, must lift itself above itself; it must grow out of itself. The soul today must ask questions as Parzival had to ask about the secrets of the Grail castle.5Compare lecture cycle Christ and the Spiritual World and the Search for the Holy Grail (GA 149) (London: Rudolf Steiner Press, 1963) and Chretien de Troyes, Perceval, or the History of the Grail.
Therefore, today spiritual research only begins when there are questions. The souls that are stimulated today by external science to question, to ask, and to seek—those are the Parzival souls. Therefore, a mystery stream was introduced that has been much persecuted, the Rosicrucian training that does not rely on any handed-down wisdom even if it gratefully accepts the old traditions. What constitutes the Rosicrucian approach to the spirit today has been researched directly in higher worlds with spiritual eyes—and with the means that the student himself has received as instructions. Today wisdom is proclaimed through the Rosicrucian approach to the spirit not because this or that is found in old books, not because these or those have believed this or that, but because it was researched. This was gradually prepared in the Rosicrucian schools founded in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries by the individuality named Christian Rosenkreuz.
Today this wisdom can be proclaimed as Theosophy. Those people simply no longer exist who, without their own involvement, are implanted with wisdom that inwardly inspires them. Today only those people who feel that Theosophy speaks to their hearts should come to it. We should not use propaganda and agitate for Theosophy. Only through their own free initiative should anyone come to Theosophy. This can occur when individuals are deeply affected in a living way by spiritual knowledge.
Then, through this Theosophical-Rosicrucian spiritual stream, we draw toward us what is available from the copies of the I of Jesus of Nazareth. In this way, those who prepare themselves for it draw into their souls the image of the I of Jesus of Nazareth. Then, through the fact that their inner soul life is like the imprint of a seal of the I of Christ, through this, such human beings take into their souls the principle of Christ. In this way Rosicrucianism prepares something positive. Theosophy should become life, so that any soul that truly absorbs Theosophy is gradually transformed. Absorbing Theosophy means that a soul is transformed such that it can arrive at an understanding of Christ.
Theosophists make themselves into living recipients of what Moses and Paul were given in the revelation of Yahweh-Christ. Therefore, we read in the fifth letter in the Apocalypse how the people of the fifth cultural epoch are those who truly take into themselves what will later be self-evident for the cultural epoch of the community of Philadelphia. The wisdom of the fifth cultural age will blossom forth as a flower of love in the sixth cultural age.
Humankind is called today to take in something new, something divine, and thereby to undertake again an ascent into the spiritual world. The theosophical teaching concerning evolution is imparted; it should not be believed but rather humankind should come to the point of understanding it through its own power of judgment. It is proclaimed to those who bear within themselves a seed of the essence of Parzival. And it is not proclaimed only to a particular people or place. Those who hear the call of spiritual wisdom will come together from all parts of humanity.
Siebenter Vortrag
Es soll heute die mehr okkulte Seite unserer gestrigen Betrachtung zur Geltung kommen. Die vier nachatlantischen Kulturen hatten sozusagen widerzuspiegeln in den Seelen der Menschen die großen kosmischen Vorgänge, wie sie sich in der Zeitenfolge abgespielt haben, während wir in unserer Kulturperiode vom 13., 14. Jahrhundert ab keine solche Spiegelung mehr haben, denn das, was sich äußerlich in der Menschheitsentwickelung abspielt, ist auf tieferliegende Gründe zurückzuführen.
Wir wissen, wie für die sieben heiligen Rishis aufbewahrt worden waren die Ätherleiber der großen atlantischen Eingeweihten und wissen auch, wie der Ätherleib und der Astralleib des Zarathustra einverwoben worden sind dem Moses und dem Hermes. Zu allen Zeiten gab es die Möglichkeit, daß solche Ätherleiber, welche durchgearbeitet und vorbereitet waren von den Eingeweihten, weiter benutzt wurden in der spirituellen Ökonomie der Welt. Es fand auch anderes statt. Für besonders wichtige Persönlichkeiten werden solche Ätherleiber in den höheren Welten geformt. Wenn jemand für die Menschheitsmission besonders wichtig war, so wurde in den höheren Welten ein solcher Ätherleib oder Astralleib gewoben und diesen besonderen Persönlichkeiten eingeprägt.
So geschah es mit Sem, der in der Tat etwas zu tun hat mit dem ganzen Stamm der Semiten. Für einen solchen Stammvater wurde ein besonderer Ätherleib geprägt. Sem war dadurch eine Art Doppelpersönlichkeit. So fabelhaft es dem heutigen Menschensinn auch vorkommt, es erschien eine solche Persönlichkeit wie Sem dem Hellseher wie ein gewöhnlicher Mensch mit seiner Aura, aber so, als ob ein höheres Wesen, das herunterragt aus höheren Welten, seinen Ätherleib ausfüllte und die Aura dieses Menschen dadurch den Vermittler bildete zwischen dieser Persönlichkeit und den höheren Welten. Ein solches göttliches Wesen hat aber, als in einem Menschen wohnend, ganz besondere Macht. Es kann dann einen solchen Ätherleib vervielfältigen, und diese vervielfältigten Ätherleiber bilden dann ein Gewebe, das den Nachkommen immer wieder einverwoben wird. So bekamen die Nachkommen des Sem eingeimpft die Abbilder seines Ätherleibes. Aber auch der Ätherleib des Sem selbst, nicht nur die vervielfachten Abbilder, wurde in den Mysterien aufbewahrt. Und eine Persönlichkeit, die eine besondere Mission erhalten sollte, mußte, um sich ganz verständigen zu können mit dem semitischen Volke, diesen Ätherleib benutzen, so wie ein hochgebildeter Europäer etwa die Sprache der Hottentotten lernen müßte, um sich mit ihnen zu verständigen. Der Persönlichkeit, die eine besondere Mission hatte, mußte also, um sich dem semitischen Volk verständlich zu machen, in sich tragen den wirklichen Ätherleib des Sem. Solch eine Persönlichkeit zum Beispiel war Melchisedek, der sich nur in dem Ätherleib des Sem dem Abraham zeigen konnte.
Und nun müssen wir uns die Frage stellen: Wenn wir erst jetzt, in der fünften nachatlantischen Kulturperiode, ein Verständnis entwikkeln können für das Christentum, wie war es denn da in dem Rest der griechisch-lateinischen Zeit, die noch bis in das 13. und 14. Jahrhundert dauerte?
Da findet ein geheimnisvoller okkulter Vorgang statt. Der Christus lebte ja nur während dreier Jahre in den Hüllen des Jesus von Nazareth, der eine so hohe Individualität ist, daß er im dreißigsten Lebensjahre die physische Welt verlassen konnte, um in die geistige Welt einzugehen damals, als über seinem Haupte die Taube erschien. Die drei hochentwickelten Leiber werden nun ausgefüllt von der Christus-Individualität dadurch, daß diese Christus-Individualität in dem physischen Menschenleibe lebt. Diese für das physische Auge unsichtbaren Leiber des Jesus von Nazareth werden nun in ähnlicher Weise vervielfältigt wie dazumal der Ätherleib des Sem, so daß vom Tode am Kreuz an nun vorhanden sind Abbilder des Ätherleibes und des Astralleibes des Jesus von Nazareth. Das hat nichts zu tun mit seinem Ich; das ging ja in die geistige Welt und hat sich später immer wieder verkörpert.
In den ersten Jahrhunderten nach dem Christus-Ereignis sehen wir, wie die christlichen Schriftsteller noch auf Grund mündlich überlieferter Tradition der Apostelschüler arbeiten. Sie legten Wert auf physische Überlieferung. Auf diese allein hätten aber spätere Jahrhunderte nicht bauen können. Vom 6. und 7. Jahrhundert an geschieht es nun, daß besonders hervorragenden christlichen Verkündern einverwoben wurde ein Abbild des Ätherleibes des Jesus von Nazareth. Ein solcher Mensch war Augustinus. Er hatte gewaltige Kämpfe durchzumachen in seiner Jugend. Dann aber wurde in bedeutsamer Weise in ihm wirksam der Impuls des Ätherleibes des Jesus von Nazareth, und da beginnt er erst, aus sich selbst heraus christliche Mystik zu treiben. Wir können seine Schriften eben nur in diesem Lichte verstehen.
Viele Persönlichkeiten sind in der Welt herumgegangen, in sich tragend eine solche Kopie. Columban, Gallus, Patrick, sie trugen alle solch ein Abbild des Ätherleibes in sich und gerade dadurch waren sie in der Lage, das Christentum zu verbreiten. So konnte eine Brücke geschlagen werden vom Christus-Ereignis zur nachfolgenden Zeit.
Und nun sehen wir im 11. und 12. Jahrhundert solche Menschen, die einverwoben erhalten in den eigenen Astralleib denjenigen des Jesus von Nazareth. Eine solche Persönlichkeit war Franz von Assisi. Wenn wir sein Leben verfolgen, wird es uns in manchem unverständlich sein; aber gerade seine Impulse der Demut, der christlichen Hingebung können wir verstehen, wenn wir uns sagen, daß ein solches Geheimnis in ihm lebte. Durch solche Einverwebungen des Astralleibes werden nun um das 11., 12. und 13. Jahrhundert solche Menschen Verkündiger des Christentums. Sie haben also das Christentum durch Gnade empfangen.
Das Ich des Jesus von Nazareth hat Ja die drei Hüllen bei der Johannestaufe verlassen; aber es ist doch ein Abbild dieses Ichs gleich einem Siegelabdruck verblieben in den drei Hüllen. Von diesen drei Leibern nimmt die Christus-Wesenheit Besitz, aber auch von noch etwas, das wie ein Abdruck des Jesus-Ichs zurückbleibt. So etwas wie eine Ich-Kopie des Jesus wird einverwoben vom 12., 13. und 14. Jahrhundert ab in solche Menschen, die nun zu sprechen beginnen von einem «inneren Christus». Meister Eckhart, Tauler, sie sprechen dann aus ihrer eigenen Erfahrung heraus wie ein Ich-Abdruck von Jesus von Nazareth.
Es sind nun noch viele Menschen da, die so etwas in sich tragen von Kopien der verschiedenen Leiber des Jesus von Nazareth, aber diese werden nun nicht mehr die führenden Persönlichkeiten. Wir sehen immer mehr, wie es in unserem fünften Zeitraum Menschen gibt, die sich auf sich selbst, auf ihr eigenes Ich stellen müssen. Immer seltener werden solche inspirierten Menschen. Deshalb mußte vorgesorgt werden, daß in unserem fünften Zeitraum eine geistige Strömung entstehe, die dafür zu sorgen hätte, daß auch noch weiter spirituelle Erkenntnisse zur Menschheit dringen könnten. Es mußte für die Menschen, die angewiesen sind auf ihr bloßes menschliches Ich, vorgesorgt werden von jenen Individualitäten, die in die Zukunft schauen konnten. Es wird uns erzählt in einer solchen Legende, daß das Gefäß, in dem der Christus Jesus das Abendmahl mit seinen Jüngern genommen hatte, aufbewahrt wurde. Das ist die Legende vom heiligen Gral, und wir sehen in der Erzählung von Parzival typisch ausgedrückt einen Schülerwerdegang unserer fünften nachatlantischen Zeit. Da hat er eins versäumt, der Parzival: Es war ihm nämlich gesagt worden, er solle nicht viel fragen. Das ist der wichtige Übergang von der alten Zeit zur neuen Zeit: Möglichst passive Hingabe war das Notwendige im alten Indien für den Schüler; später auch noch bei Augustinus, bei Franz von Assisi. Alle diese demütigen Leute ließen sich inspirieren durch das, was in ihnen lebte, was in sie einverwoben war. Nun aber sollte das Ich die Frage in sich tragen. Jede Seele, die heute einfach passiv hinnimmt, was ihr gegeben wird, kommt dadurch nicht über sich selbst hinaus. Sie kann dann nur beobachten, was in der physischen Welt um sie her vorgeht. Die Seele muß heute fragen, muß sich über sich selber erheben, aus sich selber herauswachsen. Die Seele muß heute fragen, wie einstmals Parzival fragen mußte nach den Geheimnissen der Gralsburg.
So beginnt heute die geistige Forschung erst da, wo das Fragen ist. Die Seelen, die heute angeregt werden durch die äußere Wissenschaft zum Fragen, die fragen und suchen, das sind die Parzival-Seelen. So ist also eingeleitet worden die Mysterienströmung, die viel angefeindete Rosenkreuzerschulung, die mit keiner überlieferten Weisheit rechnet, wenn sie auch die Überlieferungen dankbar hinnimmt. Aber das, was heute die rosenkreuzerische Geistesrichtung ausmacht, das ist unmittelbar in den höheren Welten mit dem geistigen Auge und mit den Mitteln, die der Schüler selbst angewiesen bekommt, erforscht worden. Nicht, weil dies oder jenes in alten Büchern steht, weil diese oder jene dieses oder jenes geglaubt haben, sondern heute erforschtes Weisheitsgut wird verkündet durch die rosenkreuzerische Geistesrichtung. Und solches wurde nach und nach in den Rosenkreuzer-Schulen vorbereitet, die gegründet worden sind im 13., 14. Jahrhundert durch die Individualität, die Christian Rosenkreutz genannt wird.
So kann dieses Weisheitsgut heute als Theosophie verkündet werden. Heute sind eben nicht mehr solche Menschen da, die ohne ihr Zutun eingeimpft bekommen das, was sie innerlich inspiriert. Heute sollen die Menschen, die fühlen, daß Theosophie zum Herzen spricht, an sie herankommen. Es soll nicht agitiert werden für Theosophie; ein jeder soll zur Theosophie durch seinen eigenen freien Impuls kommen, dadurch, daß er in lebendiger Weise ergriffen wird von dem spirituellen Wissen.
So ziehen wir durch diese theosophisch-rosenkreuzerische Geistesströmung das wieder an uns heran, was vorhanden ist von den Kopien des Ichs des Jesus von Nazareth. So werden diejenigen, die sich dazu vorbereiten, hineinziehen in ihre Seelen das Abbild des Ichs des Jesus von Nazareth. Dadurch, daß sein Inneres wie ein Siegelabdruck ist von dem Ich des Jesus, dadurch wird ein solcher Mensch das Christus-Prinzip in seine Seele aufnehmen. — So bereitet das Rosenkreuzertum etwas Positives vor. Theosophie soll Leben werden und die Seele, die sie wirklich in sich aufnimmt, verwandelt sich nach und nach. Theosophie in sich aufnehmen, das heißt, die Seele so verwandeln, daß sie zu dem Christus-Verständnis kommen kann.
Der Theosoph macht sich zu einem lebendigen Empfänger dessen, was in der Jahve-Christus-Offenbarung dem Moses, dem Paulus gegeben wird. So heißt es im fünften Brief der Apokalypse, wie die Menschen der fünften Kulturepoche diejenigen seien, die wirklich in sich aufnehmen, was dann für die Kulturperiode der Gemeinde von Philadelphia etwas Selbstverständliches sein wird. Die Weisheit der fünften Kulturperiode wird als Liebesblume aufgehen in der sechsten Kulturperiode.
Die Menschheit ist heute dazu aufgerufen, etwas Neues, Göttliches in sich aufzunehmen und dadurch den Aufstieg in die geistige Welt wieder vorzunehmen. Die theosophische Entwickelungslehre wird mitgeteilt; sie soll nicht geglaubt werden, sondern die Menschheit soll durch eigene Urteilskraft dazu kommen, sie zu verstehen. Sie wird verkündet denen, die den Keim der Parzival-Natur in sich tragen. Und nicht lokal, nicht an einem besonderen Ort wird sie verkündet, sondern aus der ganzen Menschheit heraus werden die Menschen zusammengeführt werden, die den Ruf der spirituellen Weisheit hören.
Seventh Lecture
Today we will focus on the more occult side of yesterday's discussion. The four post-Atlantean cultures had, so to speak, to reflect in the souls of human beings the great cosmic processes as they unfolded in the sequence of time, whereas in our cultural period since the 13th and 14th centuries we no longer have such a reflection, for what is happening outwardly in human evolution can be traced back to deeper causes.
We know how the etheric bodies of the great Atlantean initiates were preserved for the seven holy Rishis, and we also know how the etheric body and the astral body of Zarathustra were interwoven with those of Moses and Hermes. At all times, it was possible for such etheric bodies, which had been worked through and prepared by the initiates, to be used further in the spiritual economy of the world. Other things also took place. For particularly important personalities, such etheric bodies are formed in the higher worlds. If someone was particularly important for the mission of humanity, such an etheric body or astral body was woven in the higher worlds and imprinted on these special personalities.
This is what happened with Shem, who indeed has something to do with the entire Semitic tribe. A special etheric body was formed for such a tribal father. Shem was thus a kind of double personality. As fabulous as it may seem to the modern mind, such a personality as Shem appeared to the clairvoyant as an ordinary human being with his aura, but as if a higher being, descending from higher worlds, filled his etheric body and the aura of this human being thus formed the mediator between this personality and the higher worlds. However, such a divine being, dwelling in a human being, has very special powers. It can then multiply such an etheric body, and these multiplied etheric bodies then form a fabric that is woven into the descendants again and again. In this way, the descendants of Sem were imbued with the images of his etheric body. But the etheric body of Shem himself, not just the multiplied images, was also preserved in the mysteries. And a personality who was to receive a special mission had to use this etheric body in order to be able to communicate fully with the Semitic people, just as a highly educated European would have to learn the language of the Hottentots in order to communicate with them. The personality who had a special mission therefore had to carry within himself the real etheric body of Sem in order to make himself understood to the Semitic people. Such a personality was, for example, Melchizedek, who could only show himself to Abraham in the etheric body of Sem.
And now we must ask ourselves the question: If we are only now, in the fifth post-Atlantean cultural period, able to develop an understanding of Christianity, what was it like during the rest of the Greco-Latin period, which lasted until the 13th and 14th centuries?
A mysterious occult process is taking place. Christ lived only for three years in the shell of Jesus of Nazareth, who was such a highly individual being that he was able to leave the physical world at the age of thirty in order to enter the spiritual world at the moment when the dove appeared above his head. The three highly developed bodies are now filled by the Christ individuality through the fact that this Christ individuality lives in the physical human body. These bodies of Jesus of Nazareth, invisible to the physical eye, are now multiplied in a similar way to the etheric body of Shem at that time, so that from the moment of death on the cross, images of the etheric body and the astral body of Jesus of Nazareth are now present. This has nothing to do with his ego; that went into the spiritual world and later incarnated again and again.
In the first centuries after the Christ event, we see how Christian writers still worked on the basis of oral traditions handed down by the disciples of the apostles. They attached importance to physical tradition. However, later centuries could not build on this alone. From the sixth and seventh centuries onwards, a picture of the etheric body of Jesus of Nazareth was woven into the lives of particularly outstanding Christian preachers. One such person was Augustine. He had to endure tremendous struggles in his youth. But then the impulse of the etheric body of Jesus of Nazareth became effective in him in a significant way, and only then did he begin to pursue Christian mysticism out of himself. We can only understand his writings in this light.
Many personalities have walked the earth carrying such a copy within themselves. Columban, Gallus, Patrick, they all carried such an image of the etheric body within themselves, and it was precisely this that enabled them to spread Christianity. In this way, a bridge could be built from the Christ event to the following era.
And now, in the 11th and 12th centuries, we see such people who have woven the astral body of Jesus of Nazareth into their own. One such personality was Francis of Assisi. If we follow his life, we will find it incomprehensible in many ways; but we can understand his impulses of humility and Christian devotion when we tell ourselves that such a mystery lived in him. Through such interweaving of the astral body, such people became proclaimers of Christianity around the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries. They thus received Christianity through grace.
The I of Jesus of Nazareth did indeed leave the three sheathes at the baptism of John; but an image of this I remained in the three sheathes, like a seal impression. The Christ being takes possession of these three bodies, but also of something else that remains as an impression of the Jesus I. Something like a copy of the Jesus ego is woven into those people from the 12th, 13th, and 14th centuries who now begin to speak of an “inner Christ.” Meister Eckhart and Tauler then speak from their own experience as if from an imprint of the Jesus of Nazareth.
There are still many people who carry within themselves copies of the various bodies of Jesus of Nazareth, but these are no longer the leading personalities. We are seeing more and more how, in our fifth period, there are people who have to rely on themselves, on their own ego. Such inspired people are becoming increasingly rare. Therefore, precautions had to be taken to ensure that a spiritual current would arise in our fifth period that would ensure that spiritual insights could continue to reach humanity. Those individualities who could look into the future had to make provisions for people who are dependent on their mere human ego. We are told in such a legend that the vessel in which Christ Jesus had taken the Last Supper with his disciples was preserved. This is the legend of the Holy Grail, and we see in the story of Parzival a typical expression of the development of a disciple in our fifth post-Atlantean epoch. Parzival failed to do one thing: he had been told not to ask too many questions. This is the important transition from the old era to the new: in ancient India, passive devotion was essential for disciples; later, this was also the case with Augustine and Francis of Assisi. All these humble people were inspired by what lived within them, what was woven into them. Now, however, the I must carry the question within itself. Any soul that today simply passively accepts what is given to it cannot transcend itself. It can then only observe what is happening in the physical world around it. Today, the soul must ask questions, must rise above itself, must grow out of itself. Today, the soul must ask, as Parzival once had to ask, about the mysteries of the Grail Castle.
Thus, spiritual research today begins only where there are questions. The souls that are stimulated today by external science to ask questions, to question and to search, are the souls of Parzival. Thus has been initiated the stream of mysteries, the much-maligned Rosicrucian training, which does not rely on any traditional wisdom, even though it gratefully accepts the traditions. But what constitutes the Rosicrucian spiritual direction today has been researched directly in the higher worlds with the spiritual eye and with the means that the student himself is instructed to use. Not because this or that is written in old books, because this or that person believed this or that, but because the wisdom that has been researched today is proclaimed by the Rosicrucian spiritual direction. And this has been prepared little by little in the Rosicrucian schools, which were founded in the 13th and 14th centuries by the individuality called Christian Rosenkreutz.
Thus, this wisdom can be proclaimed today as theosophy. Today, there are no longer people who are imbued with what inspires them inwardly without their own effort. Today, people who feel that theosophy speaks to their hearts should approach it. There should be no agitation for theosophy; everyone should come to theosophy through their own free impulse, by being seized in a living way by spiritual knowledge.
Thus, through this Theosophical-Rosicrucian spiritual current, we draw back to ourselves what remains of the copies of the I of Jesus of Nazareth. In this way, those who prepare themselves draw into their souls the image of the I of Jesus of Nazareth. Because their inner being is like a seal imprinted with the I of Jesus, such people will take the Christ principle into their souls. — In this way, Rosicrucianism prepares something positive. Theosophy should become life, and the soul that truly takes it in will gradually be transformed. To take in Theosophy means to transform the soul so that it can come to an understanding of Christ.
The theosophist makes himself a living recipient of what is given to Moses and Paul in the Yahweh-Christ revelation. Thus it is said in the fifth letter of the Apocalypse that the people of the fifth cultural epoch are those who truly absorb what will then be self-evident for the cultural period of the community of Philadelphia. The wisdom of the fifth cultural period will blossom as a flower of love in the sixth cultural period.
Humanity today is called upon to take something new and divine into itself and thereby resume its ascent into the spiritual world. The theosophical doctrine of evolution is being communicated; it is not to be believed, but humanity is to come to understand it through its own power of judgment. It is proclaimed to those who carry the seed of the Parzival nature within themselves. And it is not proclaimed locally, in a particular place, but from the whole of humanity, people who hear the call of spiritual wisdom will be brought together.