Rudolf Steiner

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by Colin Wilson


  Steiner claims that his own practice of ‘remembering’—of meditating upon these basic truths—had the result of developing his own spiritual powers, including the power of ‘vision’ possessed by such men as Boehme, Swedenborg, and Blake. These visions, it must be emphasized, were inward occurrences. Swedenborg did not imagine he saw angels in the streets of Stockholm; he had to withdraw into a peculiar inner state in order to become aware of them. Steiner admits that this faculty is a form of imagination, but immediately points out that the general usage of the word ‘imagination’ gives only the faintest idea of what he means. We might say that, in most of us, the faculty of imagination is like the picture on some worn out black-and-white television set, continually flickering and distorting and vanishing; by comparison, Steiner's imagination was like a new colour television with a large screen. And, according to Steiner, he used this faculty to amplify his visions of ‘spiritual reality’.

  We are now in a position to grasp the real tragedy of Rudolf Steiner. He was one of the greatest men of the twentieth century, and it would be impossible to exaggerate the importance of what he had to say. But in order to make himself heard (‘Must I remain silent?’) he had to take the dangerous step of becoming a preacher and a ‘spiritual leader’. This is like hiring a carriage with a dozen powerful and uncontrollable horses. Even a politician finds it difficult to stop them from galloping around in circles. A ‘spiritual leader’ is lucky if he can prevent them from taking him in the opposite direction from the one he wants to go in.

  Shaw expressed the problem with considerable insight in The Perfect Wagnerite. Wotan, the ruler of the gods, symbolizes pure idealism. But in order to translate his ideals into action, he has to form an alliance with the forces of the law, and to seal the bargain, he has to sacrifice one of his eyes. The man of pure genius always has to compromise when he wants to put his ideals into action.

  Steiner's great compromise was to join the Theosophical Society. He can hardly be blamed for this. He had been an obscure academic, pathetically grateful when a group of working men offered him eight marks for a course of lectures. Then, suddenly, he had an appreciative audience who hung on every word he said. Within a mere decade, his teachings had reached remote corners of the world. The Goetheanum rose on its hilltop in Dornach, a symbol of the ultimate triumph of the spirit. Steiner did what he had to do, and it would be pointless to find fault with him.

  Yet the Goetheanum is also the symbol of everything that stands between Steiner and his potential modern audience. It is the visible church of Anthroposophy, and its scriptures include Cosmic Memory, Karmic Relationships, Christianity as Mystical Fact, Rosicrucian Esotericism, The Reappearance of Christ in the Etheric, and a hundred or so other volumes with confusing titles and bewildering contents. For the Anthroposophist—and even for the open-minded sceptic—they are full of important insights. But their sheer quantity constitutes an enormous obstacle between Steiner and the intelligent reader. Steiner's incredible industry was self-defeating. The mountain of titles, the avalanche of ideas, obscures the clarity and simplicity of his basic insight.

  Nevertheless, for the reader who declines to be discouraged, the rewards can be enormous. Once the basic insight has been grasped, we can begin to understand the source of those tremendous mental energies, and the sheer breadth of Steiner's vision. It hardly matters that there is a great deal that we may find unacceptable, or even repellent. What is so absorbing is to be in contact with a mind that was capable of this astonishing range of inner experience.

  Steiner was a man who had discovered an important secret; his books are fascinating because they contain continual glimpses of this secret. We may read them critically, wondering where Steiner was ‘amplifying’ genuine intuitions, and where he was amplifying his own dreams and imaginings. We may even conclude that Swedenborg, Blake, and Madame Blavatsky had all developed the same power of amplification, and that Steiner's visions of angelic hierarchies are no truer than Swedenborg's visions of heaven and hell, Blake's visions of the daughters of Albion, or Madame Blavatsky's visions of the giants of Atlantis. But all that is beside the point. The real point is that this faculty of amplification is our human birthright, and that anyone who can grasp this can learn to pass through that door to the inner universe as easily as he could stroll through the entrance of the British Museum.

  * * *

  *See my Psychic Detectives, Chapter 7.

  *See, for example, my contribution to King Arthur Country in Cornwall (Bossiney Books, 1979).

  Bibliography

  BOOKS ON RUDOLF STEINER

  Rudolf Steiner: Recollections by Some of his Pupils (Golden Blade, 1958).

  Ahern, Geoffrey, Sun at Midnight. Rudolf Steiner and the Western Esoteric Tradition (Aquarian Press, Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, 1984).

  Clark, Laurence, Coming to Terms with Rudolf Steiner (Veracity Ventures, Hertfordshire, 1971).

  Davy, John, Work Arising From The Life of Rudolf Steiner (Rudolf Steiner Press, London, 1975).

  Easton, S. C., Man and World in the Light of Anthroposophy (The Anthroposophic Press, New York, 1975).

  ——, Rudolf Steiner, Herald of a New Epoch (The Anthroposophic Press, New York, 1980).

  Edmunds, Francis, Rudolf Steiner's Gift to Education - The Waldorf Schools (Rudolf Steiner Press, London, 1975).

  ——, Anthroposophy. A Way of Life (Carnant Books, East Sussex, 1982).

  Freeman, Arnold, Meditation Under the Guidance of Rudolf Steiner (The Sheffield Educational Settlement, Sheffield, 1957).

  Grohmann, Gerbert, The Plant (Rudolf Steiner, London, 1974).

  Harwood, A. C., The Recovery of Man in Childhood (The Anthroposophic Press, New York, 1958).

  Hemleben, Johannes, Rudolf Steiner. A Documentary Biography (Henry Goulden Limited, Sussex, 1975).

  Mayer, Gladys, Behind the Veils of Death and Sleep (New Knowledge Books, East Grinstead, Sussex).

  Nesfield-Cookson, Bernard, Rudolf Steiner's Vision of Love (Aquarian Press, Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, 1983).

  Palmer, Otto, Rudolf Steiner on his book The Philosophy of Freedom (The Anthroposophic Press, New York, 1975).

  Rittelmeyer, Friedrich, Rudolf Steiner Enters my Life (Floris Books, Edinburgh, 1982).

  Savitch, Marie, Marie Steiner-von Sivers (Rudolf Steiner Press, London, 1967).

  Shepherd, A. P., A Scientist of the Invisible (Floris Classics, Edinburgh, 1983).

  Steffen, Albert, Meetings with Rudolf Steiner (Verlag Für Schöne Wissenschaften, Switzerland, 1961).

  Wachsmuth, Gunter, The Life and Work of Rudolf Steiner (Whittier Books, New York, 1955).

  SELECTED LIST OF BOOKS BY RUDOLF STEINER

  Ancient Myths. Their Meaning and Connection with Evolution (Steiner Book Centre, Canada, 1971).

  Atlantis and Lemuria (Anthroposophical Publishing Co., London, 1923).

  An Autobiography (Rudolf Steiner Publications, 1977).

  Between Death and Rebirth (Rudolf Steiner Press, London, 1975).

  The Case for Anthroposophy (Rudolf Steiner Press, London, 1970).

  Christianity as Mystical Fact (Rudolf Steiner Publishing Co., London, 1948).

  Cosmic Memory (Rudolf Steiner Publications, New York, 1959).

  The Dead Are With Us [lecture, 10 February 1918] (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1964).

  Descriptive Sketches of the Spiritual World (Anthroposophical Publishing Co., London, 1928).

  The Four Mystery Plays (Rudolf Steiner Press, London, 1982).

  Goethe's Secret Revelation, and The Riddle in Faust (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1932).

  Karmic Relationships. Esoteric Studies, Volumes I-VIII (Rudolf Steiner Press, London, 1981).

  Knowledge of the Higher Worlds (Rudolf Steiner Publishing Co., London, 1937).

  Mystery Knowledge and Mystery Centres (Rudolf Steiner Press, London, 1973).

  Friedrich Nietzsche (Rudolf Steiner Publications, Inc., New Jersey, USA, 1960).

  The Occult Movement in the Nineteenth Cen
tury (Rudolf Steiner Press, London, 1973).

  The Occult Significance of the Bhagavad Gita (Anthroposophic Press Inc., New York, 1968).

  Occult Signs and Symbols (Anthroposophic Press, Inc., New York, 1972).

  An Outline of Occult Science (Theosophical Publishing Society, London, 1914; Rand McNally & Co., New York, 1914).

  The Philosophy of Freedom (Rudolf Steiner Press, London, 1964).

  Reincarnation and Immortality (Rudolf Steiner Publications, New York, 1970).

  The Riddles of Philosophy (The Anthroposophic Press, New York, 1973).

  A Road to Self-Knowledge and The Threshold of the Spiritual World (Rudolf Steiner Press, London, 1975).

  Rosicrucian Esotericism (The Anthroposophic Press, New York, 1978).

  Study of Man (Rudolf Steiner Press, London, 1966).

  A Theory of Knowledge (The Anthroposophic Press, New York, 1968).

  Theosophy (Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co., Ltd., London, 1910).

  World Economy (Rudolf Steiner Press, London, 1972).

  World History in the Light of Anthroposophy (Rudolf Steiner Press, London, 1950).

  Index

  Ahriman, 110, 111, 145

  Ahura-Mazda, 111

  Akasa, 12

  Akasic records, the, 12-13, 104, 118, 164, 166

  Alexander the Great, 116-17

  Anthroposophical Society, the, 144, 145, 153

  Anthroposophy, 130, 146, 148, 152, 154

  Archangel Gabriel, 112

  Archangel Michael, 112

  Arthur, King, 114-16

  Artorius, 115, 165

  astral body, the, 110, 127

  astral world, the, 120

  Atlanteans, 107-108

  Atlantis, epoch of, 111

  Bennett, J. G., 70-71

  Besant, Annie, 109, 126, 133, 139, 143, 144

  Blake, William, 36, 121-22, 171

  Blavatsky, Madame, 12-13, 16, 18, 28, 55, 99, 101, 103, 109, 127, 130, 133, 152, 171

  cosmology of, 107-108, 109

  works of, 57, 104, 107, 108

  Boehme, Jacob, 85

  Brentano, Franz, 35-6

  Brotherhood of the Rosy Cross, 134

  Buchanan, J. Rhodes, 12, 38

  Christian Community, the, 102, 152, 153

  Christianity, Victorian, 57

  Christianity as Mystical Fact, 102, 103, 104, 109, 170

  colour, theory of, 50-51

  Cosmic Memory, 9, 101, 105, 106, 109, 113, 123, 136, 166, 170

  dead, communication with the, 42, 66-9

  delle Grazie, Maria Eugenie, 45-6

  Denton, William, 12

  dowsing, 69, 104-105

  Druids, the, 154-55

  Duncan, Isadora, 140

  Eckstein, Friedrich, 55-7, 62

  ego, the, 127

  etheric body, the, 104, 127

  Eunicke, Anna, 64-5, 94

  Herr, 65-6, 78

  Eurythmy, 140, 144

  Faust, 167, 168

  stage version of, 148

  Fichte, 34-5, 44, 79

  First World War, 146

  Friedrich Nietzsche, Fighter for Freedom, 86

  From Buddha to Christ, 109

  German Weekly Review, the, 53

  Giordano Bruno Union, 97, 98, 125

  Goethe, J. W. von, 37, 49, 50, 51, 52, 58, 89, 90, 97-8

  ‘Fairy Tale’ of, 98-9

  Goetheanum, The, 157

  Goetheanum, the, 145, 170

  destruction of the, 153-54

  Great Initiates, The, 103, 104

  Gurdjeff, 11, 70-71, 105, 137, 167, 168

  Haeckel, Ernst, 63-4

  Hartmann, Eduard von, 47-8, 81

  and Rudolf Steiner, 55, 63, 118-19

  Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, the, 135

  Hesse, Hermann, 167

  hierarchies, the, 109

  Lucerific, the, 110

  Hitler, Adolf, 131, 151

  Hurkos, Peter, 39

  Huxley, Aldous, 40-41, 91, 120

  Huxley, T. H., 34

  Hudson, Thomson Jay, 71-3, 74

  hypnosis, 41

  Jacobowski, Ludwig, 97

  Jaques-Dalcroze, Emile, 140

  Jung, C. A., and active imagination, 121, 164

  Kafka, Franz, 141-43

  kamaloca, 56, 127

  Kant, Immanuel, 31

  Kardec, Allan, 71, 130

  karma, 127, 165

  Karmic Relationships, 113, 114, 118, 166, 170

  Kleeberg, Ludwig, 130

  Knowledge of the Higher Worlds and Its Attainment, 128, 136

  Koguzki, Felix, 43

  Krishnamurti, Jiddu, 144

  Leadbeater, The Revd Charles, 143, 144

  Lemuria, continent of, 107

  Lemurians, the, 110

  Lethbridge, T. C., 69-70

  Lucifer, 126, 131

  Lucifer, 110, 111

  and Christ, 111

  Maeterlinck, Maurice, 113, 117, 136-37, 164

  Maslow, Abraham, 25

  materialism, scientific, 14, 33, 80, 166

  Maxwell, James Clerk, 50-1

  mediumship, 129

  Mysteries, the ancient, 102-103, 129-30

  Mystery Knowledge and Mystery Centres, 112

  Mystics of the Dawn of the Modern Age, 109

  Newton, Sir Isaac, 50

  Nietzsche, Friedrich, 86-9, 91, 119, 122

  Order of the Star of the East, the, 144

  Outline of Occult Science, An, 10, 105, 136, 139

  paranormal, the, 38

  Penfield, Wilder, 20-1, 25-6

  Philosophy of Freedom, The, 49, 78, 80-1, 83, 105, 143, 165

  Portal of Initiation, The, 137-38

  Proust, Marcel, 162

  psychologism, 35

  psychometry, 11-12, 104, 164

  Ramakrishna, 84

  reductionism, 78-9

  reincarnation, 56

  Review of Literature, The, 92, 98

  Riddles of Man, 147

  Riddles of the Soul, 147, 148

  Rittelmeyer, Friedrich, 83, 139, 153

  Road to Self-Knowledge, A, 119

  Romans, the, 111

  Rosenkreuz, Christian, 134, 135

  Rosicrucianism, 133-35

  Rosicrucians, the, 112

  Rudolph, Alwin, 94-5, 125-26

  Sacred Drama of Eleusis, 132, 138

  Sartre, Jean-Paul, 19-21, 23

  Schröer, Karl Julius, 36, 44-5, 49

  Schuré, Edouard, 43-4, 64, 103, 132, 138

  Scriabin, Alexander, 140

  Sinnet, A. P., 55-7

  social reconstruction, Steiner's ideas of, 149-51

  Socrates, 22

  Soul's Awakening, The, 144

  Specht, Otto, 47

  spiritual world, the, 43

  spiritualism, 12, 129, 130

  ‘split brain’ physiology, 73

  Steiner, Rudolf, and Christianity, 101-102, 122

  and education, 47, 97, 152

  and Hitler, 129, 130

  and medicine, 156-57

  and Nazism, 151

  and the ‘celebrity mechanism’, 16, 17

  Christology of, 122, 139

  cosmology of, 109

  legacy of, 17

  philosophy of, 18-26

  ‘psychic faculty’ of, 37-8

  slow development of, 51

  Steiner movement, rise of the, 101

  Steppenwolf, 167, 168

  supersensory perception, 18

  Swedenborg, Emanuel, 68-9, 122, 169, 171

  Theory and Knowledge in the Light of Goethe's Weltanschauung, 52, 90, 166

  Theosophical Society, the, 16, 98, 108, 113-14, 125, 126, 133, 137, 143, 144, 170

  Theosophy, 55-8, 99, 139

  Theosophy - An Introduction to the Supersensible Knowledge of the World and the Destination of Man, 109, 126-29, 136

  Threefold Commonwealth, The, 150

  Threshold of the Spiritual World, The, 119, 122, 123

  Tintagel castle, exper
ience at, 114-16, 165

  visualization, 120-21

  Vollrath, Dr, 135

  von Moltke, Commander-in-Chief, 147-48

  von Sivers, Marie, 99-100, 103, 125, 132, 133, 135, 146

  von Stein, Heinrich, 62-3

  Wagner, Guenther, 130

  Wagner, Richard, 131-32, 139

  Webb, James, 11, 13

  Wells, H. G., 14, 37, 75-6

  Wilberforce, Bishop, 34

  Wordsworth, William, 39-40, 74, 77

  Yeats, W. B., 15, 57, 135

  Zarathustra, 82, 86, 89

  the Persian prophet, 102

  zeitgist, the, 112

 

 

 


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