Occult Science and Occult Development
GA 152
2 May 1913, London
II. Christ at the Time of the Mystery of Golgotha and Christ in the Twentieth Century
The Mystery of Golgotha is the most difficult of all Mysteries to understand, even for those who have already reached an advanced stage of occult knowledge. And of all the truths within the range of the human mind it is the one that can most easily be misunderstood. This is because the Mystery of Golgotha was a unique event in the whole evolution of the earth; in the evolution of mankind on the earth it was a mighty impulse which had never before been given in the same way and will never be repeated in a similar form. The human mind always looks for a standard of comparison by means of which things can be understood, but what is incomparable defies all comparison and because it is unique will be very difficult to comprehend.
In the Anthroposophical Movement we have endeavoured to describe the Mystery of Golgotha from many different points of view, but new aspects and new features of this momentous event in the evolution of humanity may continually be presented.
One aspect will be presented today and attention directed particularly to what may in a certain sense be called the renewal of the Mystery of Golgotha in our own age.
The Mystery of Golgotha should not be regarded as an event quite separate from the evolution of humanity, as coming into consideration only during its duration of three or thirty-three years; we must remember that it occurred in the fourth post-Atlantean epoch, in the Greco-Latin civilisation-epoch, and remind ourselves that preparation was made for it during the whole period of the development of the ancient Hebrew people. What happened in humanity during the fourth post-Atlantean epoch was of the utmost importance in connection with the Mystery of Golgotha; so too was the worship of Jehovah which was practised among the ancient Hebrews. It is therefore essential to consider the nature of the Being who revealed himself in those times under the name of Jahve or Jehovah.
The man of the modern age brings his intellect to bear upon everything; he wants to comprehend things from the standpoint of the intellect. But the moment a man crosses the threshold leading from the world of the senses into the super-sensible worlds, at that moment the possibility of grasping reality by means of the intellect alone, ceases. The intellect can render good service on the earth, but directly a man enters the super-sensible worlds, although it can still be considered a useful instrument, it is no longer in itself a means of acquiring knowledge.
Intellect likes, above all, to make distinctions and requires definitions in order to understand things. Those of you who have often followed my lectures will have noticed the almost complete absence of definitions—because realities cannot be grasped by their means. There are, of course, good and bad definitions—some are comprehensive, others less satisfactory. In order to understand the things of the earth, definitions may be helpful; but when it is a matter of understanding realities—above all super-sensible realities—one cannot define, one must ‘characterise’; for then it is necessary to contemplate the facts and the beings from every possible vantage-point. Definitions are always one-sided and remind one who has studied logic of the old Greek School of Philosophy where endeavours were once made to define a man. The following definition was given: ‘A man is a two-legged creature without feathers.’ The next day someone brought in a plucked fowl and said: ‘This is a two-legged creature and has no feathers; it is therefore a man.’ We may often be reminded of this when definitions are demanded for something that is so many-sided and profoundly philosophical that definitions are inadequate and all that can be done is to characterise. In order to be able to distinguish the different beings in the super-sensible worlds, people would like above all to have definitions. They ask: ‘What exactly is this or that being?’ But the more deeply one penetrates into the super-sensible worlds, the more do the beings there merge into one another; there is no longer any demarcation and consequently it is very difficult to distinguish the one from the other.
Above all, the factor of evolution must not be left out of account when thinking of the name of Jahve or Jehovah, especially in connection with the name of Christ. Even in the New Testament you will find—and in my books I have often referred to it—that in Jehovah the Christ revealed Himself, to the extent that was possible in times before the Mystery of Golgotha.
If it is desired to make a comparison between Jehovah and Christ it is well to take sunlight and moonlight as an illustration. What is sunlight, what is moonlight? They are one and the same, and yet very different. Sunlight streams out from the sun but in moonlight is reflected back by the moon. In the same sense Christ and Jehovah are one and the same. Christ is like the sunlight, Jehovah is like the reflected Christ-light in so far as it could reveal itself to the earth under the name of Jehovah, before the Mystery of Golgotha had come to pass. When contemplating a Being as sublime as Jehovah-Christ we must seek in the very heights of the super-sensible world for His true significance. In reality it is presumption to approach such a Being with everyday concepts.
The ancient Hebrews endeavoured to find a way out of this difficulty. In spite of inadequacy, human thinking made efforts to form an idea of this sublime Being. Attention was not turned directly to Jehovah (a name that in itself was held to be inexpressible), but to the Being to whom our Western literature refers by the name of Michael. Naturally, a great deal of misunderstanding may arise from this statement, but that is unavoidable. One person may say, ‘This will evoke the prejudices of Christians’; another will have nothing to do with such matters. Nevertheless the Being whom we may call Michael, and who belongs to the Hierarchy of the Archangels—whatever name we may give him—this Being does exist. There are many Beings of the same hierarchical rank, but this particular Being who is known esoterically by the name of Michael is as superior to his companions as the Sun is to the planets—Venus, Jupiter, Mercury, Saturn, and so on.
He—Michael—is the most eminent, the most significant Being in the Hierarchy of the Archangels. The ancients called him the ‘Countenance of God’. As a man reveals himself by his gestures and the expression of his countenance, so in ancient mythology Jehovah was understood through Michael.
Jehovah made himself known to the Hebrew Initiates in such a way that they realised something they had never, with their ordinary powers of comprehension, previously been able to grasp, namely, that Michael was verily the countenance of Jehovah. Hence the ancient Hebrews spoke of Jehovah-Michael: Jehovah the unapproachable, unattainable by man, just as a person's thoughts, his sorrows and cares, lie hidden behind his outward physiognomy. Michael was the outer manifestation of Jahve or Jehovah, just as in a human being the manifestation of his Ego is to be recognised in his brow and countenance.
We can therefore say that Jehovah revealed himself through Michael, one of the Archangels. Knowledge of the Being described above as Jahve was not confined to the ancient Hebrews, but was far more widespread. And if we investigate the last five hundred years before the Christian era, we find that throughout this whole period revelation was given through Michael. This revelation can be discovered in another form in Plato, Socrates, Aristotle, in Greek philosophy, even in the ancient Greek tragedies, during the five centuries before the event of Golgotha.
When with the help of occult knowledge we endeavour to shed light upon what actually took place, we can say that Christ-Jehovah is the Being who has accompanied mankind through the whole course of evolution. But during the successive epochs Christ-Jehovah always reveals Himself through different Beings of the same rank as Michael. He chooses a different countenance, as it were, to turn towards mankind. And according as one or the other Being from the Hierarchy of the Archangels is chosen to be the mediator between Christ-Jehovah and humanity, widely different ideas and conceptions, impulses of feeling, impulses of will, are revealed to men. The whole period which surrounded the Mystery of Golgotha can be described as the Age of Michael, and Michael may be regarded as the messenger of Jehovah.
During the period which preceded the Mystery of Golgotha by almost five hundred years and continued for several decades afterwards, the leading form of culture bore the stamp of Michael. Through his power he poured into mankind what was destined to be imparted at that time. And then came other Beings who equally were the Inspirers of mankind from the spiritual worlds—other Beings of the rank of the Archangels. As has been said, Michael was the greatest, the mightiest, among them. Therefore an Age of Michael is always the most significant, or one of the most significant, that can occur in the evolution of humanity. For the Ages of the different Archangels are repeated; and a fact of supreme importance is that every such Archangel gives to the Age its fundamental character. These Archangels are the leaders of the different nations and peoples, but because they become leaders of particular epochs, and because they were also leaders in bygone Ages, they have become in a certain sense also the leaders of mankind as a whole.1See Karmic Relationships: Esoteric Studies, Vol. III, Lecture VII: The New Age of Michael.
As regards Michael, a change has taken place; for Michael himself has attained a further stage of development. This is of great importance, for according to occult knowledge we have again, within the last few decades, entered an epoch inspired by the same Being who inspired the Age during which the Mystery of Golgotha took place. Since the end of the nineteenth century, Michael may again be regarded as the leader.
To understand this we must consider the Mystery of Golgotha from another point of view and ask ourselves: What, in this Mystery, is of chief importance? The fact of supreme importance is that the Being who bears the name of Christ passed through the Mystery of Golgotha and through the gate of death at that time. Never, throughout the evolution of the earth, could one speak of the Mystery of Golgotha without considering the fact that the Christ passed through death—that is the very core of the Mystery.
And now think of the laws of Nature. A great deal can be understood by studying them and in future time much more will be learnt, but we must be mere dreamers if we do not realise that the understanding of life as such is an ideal attainable only through actual development, never through the mere study of these laws. True, there are dreamers today who believe that through scientific knowledge a fundamental understanding of the principle of life will eventually be achieved, but this will never be the case. In the course of the earth's evolution many more laws will be discovered through the use of the senses, but the principle of life as such can never be revealed to the world in this way.
Hence life appears to us to be something which here on the earth is inaccessible to science, and just as life is inaccessible to human knowledge so is death to the true knowledge that is attained in the super-sensible worlds. In the super-sensible worlds there is no death—we can die only on the earth, in the physical world—and none of the Beings of an hierarchical rank higher than that of man have any knowledge of death; they know only different states of consciousness. Their consciousness can for a time be so diminished that it resembles our earthly condition of sleep, but it can wake out of this sleep. There is no death in the spiritual worlds, there is only change of consciousness; and the greatest fear by which man is possessed—the fear of death—cannot be felt by one who has risen into the super-sensible worlds after death. The moment he passes through the gates of death his condition is one of intense sensibility, but he can only exist in either a clear or a dimmed state of consciousness. That a human being in the super-sensible world could be dead would be inconceivable.
There is no death for any of the Beings belonging to the higher Hierarchies, with the one exception of Christ. But in order that a super-sensible Being such as Christ should be able to pass through death, He must first have descended to the earth. And the fact of immeasurable significance in the Mystery of Golgotha is that a Being who in the realm of His own will could never have experienced death, should have descended to the earth in order to undergo an experience connected inherently with man. Thereby that inner bond was created between earthly mankind and Christ, in that this Being passed through death in order to share this destiny with man. As I have already emphasised, that death was of the greatest possible importance, above all for the present evolutionary period of the earth. A Being of unique nature who until then was only cosmic, was united with the earth's evolution through the Mystery of Golgotha, through Christ's death. At the time of the Mystery of Golgotha, He entered into the very process of the earth's evolution. This had not been the case before that event, for He then belonged to the cosmos alone; but through the Mystery of Golgotha, He descended out of the cosmos and was incorporated on earth. Since then, He lives on the earth, is united with the earth in such a way that He lives within the souls' of men and with them experiences life on the earth.
Thus the whole period before the Mystery of Golgotha was only a time of preparation in the evolution of the earth. The Mystery of Golgotha imparted to the earth its meaning and purpose.
When the Mystery of Golgotha took place the earthly body of Jesus of Nazareth was given over to the elements of the earth, and from that time onwards Christ has been united with the spiritual sphere of the earth and lives within it.
As already said, it is extremely difficult to characterise the Mystery of Golgotha because there is no standard with which it can be compared. Nevertheless we will endeavour to approach it from still another point of view.
For three years after the Baptism in the Jordan, Christ lived in the body of Jesus of Nazareth as a man among men of the earth. This may be called the earthly manifestation of Christ in a physical, human body. How, then, does Christ manifest Himself since the time when, in the Mystery of Golgotha, He laid aside the physical body?
We must naturally think of the Christ Being as a stupendously lofty Being, but although He is so sublime, He was nevertheless able, during the three years after the Baptism, to express Himself in a human body. But in what form does He reveal Himself since that time? No longer in the physical body, for that was given over to the physical earth and is now part of it. To those who through the study of occult science have developed the power to see into these things, it will be revealed that this Being can be recognised in one belonging to the Hierarchy of the Angels. Just as the Saviour of the world manifested Himself during the three years after the Baptism in a human body—in spite of His sublimity—so, since that time, He manifests Himself directly as an Angel, as a spiritual Being belonging to the hierarchical rank immediately above that of mankind. As such, He could always be found by those who were clairvoyant, as such, He has always been united with evolution. Just as truly as Christ, when incarnated in the body of Jesus of Nazareth, was more than man, so is the Christ Being more than an Angel—that is His outer form only.
But the fact that a mighty, sublime Being descended from the spiritual worlds and dwelt for three years in a human body also includes the fact that during that time this Being Himself progressed a stage further in His development.
When such a Being takes on a human or an angelic form, He Himself progresses. And it is this that we have indicated in speaking of the evolution of Christ-Jehovah. Christ has reached the stage where He reveals Himself henceforth not as a human being, not through His reflection only, not through the name of Jehovah, but directly. And the great difference in all the teachings and all the wisdom that have streamed into the evolution of the earth since the Mystery of Golgotha, is that through the coming of Michael—the Spirit Michael—to the earth, through his inspiration, man could gradually begin to understand all that the Christ Impulse, all that the Mystery of Golgotha, signifies. But in that earlier time Michael was the messenger of Jehovah, the reflection of the light of Christ; he was not yet the messenger of Christ Himself.
Michael inspired mankind for several centuries, for almost five hundred years before the Mystery of Golgotha, as was indicated in the old Mysteries, by Plato and so forth. Soon, however, after the Mystery of Golgotha had taken place and Christ had united Himself with the evolution of the earth, the direct impulse of Michael ceased. At the time when the old documents we possess in the form of the Gospels were written—as I have said in my book Christianity as Mystical Fact—Michael himself could no longer inspire mankind; but through his companions among the Archangels men were inspired in such a way that much soul-force was received unconsciously through inspiration.
The writers of the Gospel had no clear occult knowledge themselves, for the inspiration of Michael came to an end shortly after the Mystery of Golgotha. The other Archangels, the companions of Michael, could not inspire mankind in such a way as to make the Mystery of Golgotha comprehensible. This accounts for the divergent inspirations of the various Christian teachings. Much in these teachings was inspired by the companions of Michael; the teachings were not inspired by Michael himself but bear the same relation to his inspirations as do the planets to the mighty sun.
Only now, in our own age, is there again such an influence, a direct inspiration from Michael. Preparation for this direct inspiration from Michael has been going on since the sixteenth century. At that time it was the Archangel nearest to Michael who gave mankind the inspiration that has led to the great achievements of natural science in modern times. This natural science is not attributable to the inspiration of Michael but to that of one of his companions, Gabriel. The tendency of this scientific inspiration is to create a science, a world-picture that promotes understanding of the material world alone, and is connected with the physical brain.
Within the last few decades Michael has taken the place of this Inspirer of science, and in the next few centuries will give to the world something that in a spiritual sense will be equally important—indeed more important, because it is more spiritual—immeasurably more important than the physical science which has advanced from stage to stage since the sixteenth century. Just as his companion Archangel endowed the world with science, so will Michael in the future endow mankind with spiritual knowledge, of which we are now only at the very beginning. Just as Michael was sent as the messenger of Jehovah, as the reflection of Christ, five hundred years before the Mystery of Golgotha in order to give that era its keynote, just as then he was still the messenger of Jehovah, so now, for our own epoch, Michael has become the messenger of Christ Himself. Just as in the times of the ancient Hebrews, times which were a direct preparation for the Mystery of Golgotha, the Initiates among the Hebrews could turn to Michael as the outer revelation of Jahve or Jehovah, so we now are able to turn to Michael—who from being the messenger of Jehovah has become the messenger of Christ—in order to receive from him during the next few centuries increasing spiritual revelations that will shed more and more light upon the Mystery of Golgotha. What happened two thousand years ago could only be made known to the world through the various Christian sects and its profundities can only be unveiled in the twentieth century when, instead of science, spiritual knowledge—our gift from Michael—will come into its own. This should fill our hearts with deep feelings for spiritual reality in our present time. We shall be able to realise that within the last few decades a door has opened through which understanding can come.
Michael can give us new spiritual light which may be regarded as a transformation of the light that was given through him at the time of the Mystery of Golgotha; and the men of our day can receive that light. If we can realise this we can grasp the significance of the new age that is now issuing from our own; we can be aware of the dawn of a spiritual revelation that is to come in the next few centuries into the life of humanity on the earth. Indeed, because men have become freer than in former times, we shall be able, through our own wills, to progress to the stage where this revelation may be received.
Reference shall now be made to the event in the higher worlds which has led to this altered state of affairs, to this time of a renewal of the Mystery of Golgotha. When we look back we remember what came to pass at the Baptism by John in the Jordan, when Christ revealed Himself in a human form, visible on the earth among mankind. Further, we will fill our souls with the thought of how, as regards His outer form, Christ then united Himself with the Hierarchy of the Angels and has since that time lived invisibly in the sphere of the earth.
Let us remember what has been said—that in the invisible worlds there is no death. Christ Himself, because He descended to our world, passed through a death similar to that of human beings. When He again became a spiritual Being, He still retained the remembrance of His death; but as a Being of the rank of the Angels in which He continued to manifest Himself outwardly, He could experience only a diminution of consciousness.
Through that which since the 16th century had become necessary for the evolution of the earth, namely the triumph of science at higher and higher levels, something which has significance also for the invisible worlds entered into the whole evolution of mankind. With the triumph of science, materialistic and agnostic sentiments of greater intensity than hitherto arose in mankind. In earlier times too there had been materialistic tendencies but not the intense materialism that has prevailed since the sixteenth century. More and more, as men passed into the spiritual worlds through the gate of death, they bore with them the outcome of their materialistic ideas on the earth. After the sixteenth century more and more seeds of earthly materialism were carried over, and these seeds developed in a particular way.
Christ came into the old Hebrew race and was led to His death within it. The angelic Being, who since then has been the outer form assumed by Christ, suffered an extinction of consciousness in the course of the intervening nineteen centuries as a result of the opposing materialistic forces that had been brought into the spiritual worlds by materialistic human souls who had passed through the gate of death. This onset of unconsciousness in the spiritual worlds will lead to the resurrection of the Christ-consciousness in the souls of men on earth between birth and death in the twentieth century. In a certain sense it may therefore be said that from the twentieth century onwards, what has been lost by mankind in the way of consciousness will arise again for clairvoyant vision. At first only a few, and then an ever-increasing number of human beings in the twentieth century will be capable of perceiving the manifestation of the Etheric Christ—that is to say, Christ in the form of an Angel. It was for the sake of humanity that there was what may be called an extinction of consciousness in the worlds immediately above our earthly world, in which Christ has been visible in the period between the Mystery of Golgotha and the present day.
At the time of the Mystery of Golgotha something took place in a little-known corner of Palestine, something that was the greatest event in the whole evolution of humanity, but of which little notice was taken by the people of that day. If such a thing could be, need we be astonished when we hear what conditions were like during the nineteenth century, when those who since the sixteenth century had passed through death, confronted Christ?
The ‘seeds of earthly materialism’ which were increasingly carried into the spiritual world by the souls who went through the portal of death since the sixteenth century, and which caused more and more darkness, built the ‘black sphere of materialism.’ Christ took this black sphere into being in the sense of the Manichean principle for the purpose of transforming it. For the angel being in which the Christ had manifested himself since the Mystery of Golgotha the black sphere caused a ‘death by suffocation.’ This sacrifice by Christ in the nineteenth century is comparable to the sacrifice on the physical plane through the Mystery of Golgotha and can be called the second crucifixion of Christ on the etheric plane. This spiritual death by suffocation, which brought about the extinction of the consciousness of the angelic Being is a repetition of the Mystery of Golgotha in those worlds that lie immediately behind our world. It took place to make possible a revival of the Christ consciousness which was earlier hidden in human souls on earth. The revival becomes clairvoyant vision of humanity in the twentieth century.
Thus the Christ-consciousness may be united with the earthly consciousness of men from our time on into the future; for the dying of the Christ-consciousness in the sphere of the Angels in the nineteenth century signifies the resurrection of the direct consciousness of Christ—that is to say, Christ's life will be felt in the souls of men more and more as a direct personal experience from the twentieth century onwards.
Just as the few who once were able to read the signs of the times and in contemplating the Mystery of Golgotha were able to realise that Christ had descended from the spiritual worlds to live on the earth and undergo death in order that through His death the substances incorporated into Him might pass into the earth, so are we able to perceive that in certain worlds lying immediately behind our own a sort of spiritual death, a suspension of consciousness, took place. This was a renewal of the Mystery of Golgotha, in order to bring about an awakening of the previously hidden Christ-consciousness within the souls of men on the earth.
Since the Mystery of Golgotha many human beings have been able to proclaim the Name of Christ, and from this twentieth century onwards an ever-increasing number will be able to make known the knowledge of the Christ that is given in Anthroposophy. Out of their own experience they will be able to proclaim Him.
Twice already Christ has been crucified: once physically, in the physical world at the beginning of our era, and a second time spiritually, in the nineteenth century, in the way described above. It could be said that mankind experienced the resurrection of His body in that former time and will experience the resurrection of His consciousness from the twentieth century onwards.
The brief indications I have been able to give you will gradually make their way into the souls of men, and the mediator, the messenger, will be Michael, who is now the ambassador of Christ. Just as he once led human souls towards an understanding of Christ's life descending from heaven to the earth, so he is now preparing mankind to experience emergence of the Christ-consciousness from the realm of the unknown into the realm of the known. And just as at the time of the earthly life of Christ the greater number of His contemporaries were incapable of believing what a stupendous event had taken place in the evolution of the earth, so, in our own day, the outer world is striving to increase the power of materialism, and will continue for a long time to regard what has been spoken of today as so much fantasy, dreaming, perhaps even downright folly. This too will be the verdict on the truth concerning Michael, who at the present time is beginning to reveal Christ anew. Nevertheless many human beings will recognize the new dawn that is rising and during the coming centuries will pour its forces into the souls of men like a sun—for Michael can always be likened to a sun. And even if many people fail to recognize this new Michael revelation, it will spread through humanity nevertheless.
That is what may be said today about the relation of the Mystery of Golgotha which took place at the beginning of our era and the Mystery of Golgotha as it can now be understood. From time to time other revelations will be given and for these our minds must be kept open. Should we not be aware that it would be selfish to keep these feelings exclusively for our own inner satisfaction? Let us rather feel that the solemn duty we have recognized through Anthroposophy is to make ourselves into willing instruments for such revelations; and although we are only a small community in mankind which is endeavoring to comprehend this new truth about the Mystery of Golgotha, to grasp this new revelation of Michael, we are nevertheless building up a new power that does not in the least depend upon our belief in this revelation but simply and solely upon the truth itself. Then we shall realize that only a few of us are adequately prepared to declare the following to the world, in so far as the world is willing to listen.
From now onwards there is a new revelation of Christ; we will be ready to acknowledge it; we will belong to the few who will help it to become more powerful, to become lasting; we will base ourselves upon the inner strength of such a revelation, so that it may spread among mankind, for this knowledge will gradually be shared by all.
This is what we call wisdom and some may call folly. To stand firm we need only remind ourselves that this is the time of the second Michael revelation, and remember what was said by one of the early Initiates at the time of the former Michael revelation: What often seems folly to man, is wisdom in the eyes of God.
Let us try to draw strength from feelings and spiritual knowledge which must in many respects seem folly to the outer world. Let us have the courage to realize that what appears to be folly to those who depend upon the senses for knowledge, to us may be wisdom, light, and clearer understanding of the super-sensible worlds towards which we will strive with all the power of our souls and of our conviction.
Christus Zur Zeit Des Mysteriums Von Golgatha Und Christus Im Zwanzigsten Jahrhundert
Von allen Mysterien ist das Mysterium von Golgatha am schwersten zu verstehen, sogar für diejenigen, die in okkulten Erkenntnissen schon vorgeschritten sind, und von allen Wahrheiten, mit welchen die Menschheit in Beziehung kommen kann, ist es diejenige, die am leichtesten mißverstanden werden kann. Das hängt mit der Tatsache zusammen, daß das Mysterium von Golgatha ein einzigartiges Ereignis in der ganzen Evolution der Erde war, daß es in der Entwickelung der Menschheit auf Erden ein mächtiger Impuls war, der sich nie vorher in derselben Art ereignet hatte und der sich nie in gleicher Weise wiederholen wird. Der menschliche Verstand jedoch sucht immer nach einem Maßstab, nach einem Vergleich, nach welchem die Dinge verstanden werden können. Aber etwas, was unvergleichbar ist, kann nicht verglichen werden, und weil es einzigartig ist, wird es schwer verstanden.
Nun haben wir uns bemüht, in der geisteswissenschaftlichen Bewegung, in der wir arbeiten, dieses Mysterium von Golgatha von verschiedenen Gesichtspunkten aus zu charakterisieren. Aber neue Gesichtspunkte können fortwährend gewählt, neue Charakteristiken beständig hervorgeholt werden, um dieses mächtige Ereignis in der Evolution der Menschheit auf Erden zu beschreiben.
Ein solcher Gesichtspunkt, ein solcher Aspekt soll heute hier gegeben werden, und insbesondere soll die Aufmerksamkeit auf das gerichtet werden, was in einem gewissen Sinne die Erneuerung des Mysteriums von Golgatha in unserer Zeit, in unserem gegenwärtigen Menschheitszyklus genannt werden kann.
Wenn man das Mysterium von Golgatha gründlich verstehen will, sollte man es nicht als etwas von der Menschheitsevolution ganz Getrenntes betrachten, was nur während seiner Dauer von drei oder dreiunddreißig Jahren in Betracht zu ziehen wäre, sondern man sollte betrachten, wie es sich gerade in der vierten nachatlantischen Zeitperiode, in der sogenannten griechisch-lateinischen Kulturepoche ereignete, und man sollte auch in Betracht ziehen, daß dieses Mysterium von Golgatha während der ganzen Entwickelung des alten hebräischen Volkes vorbereitet wurde. Nicht nur das ist äußerst wichtig für das Mysterium von Golgatha, was sich in der Menschheit zutrug während des vierten nachatlantischen Zeitalters, sondern auch das ist von bedeutender Wichtigkeit, was sich während der ganzen alten hebräischen Kultur vorbereitete, nämlich die Verehrung Jehovas. Zunächst ist es wichtig zu verstehen, wer die Wesenheit war, die sich in den alten hebräischen Zeiten unter dem Namen Jahve oder Jehova offenbarte.
Nun, der Mensch von heutzutage ist ein Wesen, welches vor allem in dem, was seine Vernunft und sein Verständnisvermögen anbetrifft, seinen Intellekt entwickelt, die Dinge vom intellektuellen Standpunkt aus zu verstehen liebt.
In dem Augenblick jedoch, wo man die Schwelle von der Sinneswelt in die übersinnlichen Welten überschreitet, hört die Möglichkeit auf, die Wirklichkeit nur mit den Mitteln des Verstandes zu erfassen. Der menschliche Verstand kann auf Erden gute Dienste leisten, aber in dem Augenblick, wo man in die übersinnlichen Welten eintritt, genügt er — obgleich man ihn da noch als ein nützliches Instrument betrachten kann - nicht mehr als Mittel, um Erkenntnis zu erlangen.
Dieser Verstand liebt vor allem Unterscheidungen zu machen, und um eine Sache zu verstehen, hat er eine Definition nötig. Diejenigen unter Ihnen, die meinen Vorträgen öfter gefolgt sind, werden das Fehlen von beinahe jeglichen Definitionen bemerkt haben. Man kann die Dinge der Wirklichkeit nicht durch Definitionen erfassen. Es gibt gewiß gute und schlechte Definitionen, Definitionen, die umfassend sind, und andere, die weniger befriedigend sind. Um die Angelegenheiten der Erde zu verstehen, sind Definitionen nötig, aber wenn man Dinge, die der Wirklichkeit angehören, verstehen will, namentlich Dinge, die der übersinnlichen Wirklichkeit angehören, dann kann man nicht definieren. Da muß man charakterisieren, denn dann ist es notwendig, die Tatsachen und die Wesenheiten von allen Gesichtspunkten aus zu betrachten.
Definitionen sind immer einseitig und erinnern denjenigen, der Logik studiert hat, an die alte griechische Schule der Philosophie, die einstmals zu definieren suchte, was ein Mensch ist. Um also eine Idee von dem Menschen zu geben, wurde die folgende Definition aufgestellt: Ein Mensch ist ein zweibeiniges Wesen ohne Federn. Am folgenden Tage brachte jemand ein gerupftes Huhn herein und sagte: Dieses ist ein zweibeiniges Wesen und hat keine Federn, folglich ist es ein Mensch. — Man kann oft hieran erinnert werden, wenn Definitionen verlangt werden für etwas, was so vielseitig und vieldeutig ist, daß Definitionen ungenügend sind und man nur charakterisieren kann. Aber vor allem, um die verschiedenen Wesenheiten in den übersinnlichen Welten unterscheiden zu können, möchten die Menschen eine Definition haben. Sie fragen: Was ist genau genommen eine solche Wesenheit? — Je weiter man nun aber in die übersinnlichen Welten eindringt, desto mehr durchdringen sich die Wesenheiten dort, sie sind nicht mehr voneinander abgegrenzt, so daß es schwer ist, sie voneinander zu unterscheiden.
Vor allem darf man die Evolution nicht außer acht lassen, wenn man den Namen Jahve oder Jehova in Betracht zieht, namentlich wenn man ihn mit dem Namen des Christus in Verbindung bringt. Sogar im Neuen Testament werden Sie finden — und in meinen Büchern habe ich öfters darauf hingewiesen -, daß Christus sich durch Jehova offenbarte, soweit er das konnte vor dem Mysterium von Golgatha.
Wenn man einen Vergleich zwischen Jehova und Christus ziehen will, so ist es gut, das Sonnenlicht und das Mondenlicht als Bild zu gebrauchen. Was ist Sonnenlicht, was ist Mondenlicht? Sie sind ein und dasselbe und doch sehr verschieden. Das Sonnenlicht strömt von der Sonne aus, aber im Mondenlicht wird das Sonnenlicht vom Monde zurückgeworfen. In der gleichen Weise sind Christus und Jehova ein und dasselbe. Christus ist dem Sonnenlicht gleich, Jehova ist wie das reflektierte Christus-Licht, insofern es sich der Erde offenbaren konnte unter dem Namen des Jehova, ehe das Mysterium von Golgatha eintrat. Und wiederum, wenn eine so hehre Wesenheit wie Jehova-Christus in Frage kommt, müssen wir in den erhabenen Höhen der übersinnlichen Welten nach seiner wahren Bedeutung suchen. In Wirklichkeit ist es eine Vermessenheit, sich einer solchen Wesenheit wie Jehova-Christus mit alltäglichen Begriffen zu nähern.
Nun bemühten sich die alten Hebräer, einen Ausweg aus dieser Schwierigkeit zu finden. Die menschliche Denkkraft ist schwach, aber sie versucht, sich eine Idee von dieser erhabenen Wesenheit zu machen. Die Aufmerksamkeit wurde nicht direkt auf Jehova gerichtet - ein Name,der an und für sich als unaussprechbar betrachtet wurde -, sondern auf die Wesenheit, welche in unserer abendländischen Literatur als Michael bezeichnet wird. Es kann natürlich manches Mißverständnis aus dieser Behauptung entstehen, aber das ist nicht zu vermeiden. Der eine könnte vielleicht sagen, dies wird die Vorurteille der Christen wieder erwecken, der andere will nichts mit solchen Dingen zu tun haben. Aber die Wesenheit, die wir Michael nennen dürfen und die der Hierarchie der Archangeloi angehört ganz gleich wie wir diese Wesenheit auch nennen mögen -, sie existiert doch. Und es gibt viele solcher Wesenheiten, welche dem gleichen Range angehören. Aber diese besondere Wesenheit, die esoterisch unter dem Namen Michael bekannt ist, ist so erhaben über ihre Gefährten, wie die Sonne erhaben ist über die Planeten, über Venus, Merkur, Jupiter, Saturn und so weiter.
Er, Michael, ist die hervorragendste und die bedeutendste Wesenheit in der Hierarchie der Erzengel. Die alten Hebräer nannten Michael «Das Antlitz Gottes». Wie ein Mensch sich durch seine Gesten und durch den Ausdruck seines Antlitzes offenbart, so wurde in der Mythologie der Alten Jehova durch Michael verstanden. Jehova gab sich dem Eingeweihten auf solche Weise kund, daß der Eingeweihte etwas erfassen konnte, was er mit seinem gewöhnlichen Fassungsvermögen niemals vorher hätte begreifen können, nämlich, daß Michael das Antlitz des Jehova sei. So sprachen die alten Hebräer von Jehova-Michael: Jehova, der Unnahbare, zu dem man nicht gelangen konnte, wie man nicht zu eines Menschen Gedanken, zu seinen Leiden und Sorgen, die hinter seinem äußeren Ausdruck liegen, gelangen kann. Michael ist die äußere Offenbarung des Jahve oder Jehova, wie man beim Menschen die Offenbarung seines Ich auf seiner Stirn und seinem Antlitz erkennt.
Und so können wir sagen, daß Jehova sich durch Michael, einen der Erzengel, offenbarte. Die Erkenntnis dessen, den wir als Jahve beschrieben haben, war nicht bloß auf die alten Hebräer beschränkt, sie war viel weiter verbreitet. Und wenn man die letzten fünf Jahrhunderte vor der christlichen Ära untersucht, so findet man, daß während dieser ganzen Zeit eine Offenbarung durch Michael stattfand.
Wir können diese Offenbarung in einer anderen Form in Plato, Sokrates, Aristoteles entdecken, in der griechischen Philosophie, sogar in den alten griechischen Tragödien während der fünf Jahrhunderte vor dem Ereignis von Golgatha.
Wenn wir uns mit Hilfe der okkulten Erkenntnisse bemühen, hineinzuleuchten in dasjenige, was tatsächlich sich ereignete, so können wir sagen, daß Christus-Jehova die Wesenheit ist, welche die Menschheit durch ihre ganze Evolution hindurch begleitet hat. Aber während der Epochen, die einander folgen, offenbart sich Christus-Jehova immer durch verschiedene Wesenheiten desselben Ranges wie Michael. Er wählt sozusagen immer ein anderes Antlitz, mit welchem er sich der Menschheit zuwendet. Und je nachdem der eine oder der andere aus der Hierarchie der Erzengel gewählt wird, um der Vermittler zu sein zwischen Christus-Jehova und der Menschheit, werden den Menschen sehr verschiedene Ideen und Auffassungen, Impulse des Fühlens, Impulse des Wollens und so weiter offenbart. Wir können die ganze Zeit, welche sozusagen das Mysterium von Golgatha umgibt, als die Zeit des Michael beschreiben, und wir können Michael als den Sendboten des Jehova betrachten.
In jener Zeit, welche dem Mysterium von Golgatha ungefähr um fünfhundert Jahre vorausging und sich mehrere Jahrzehnte nach diesem fortsetzte, trug die führende Kultur der Menschheit sozusagen den Stempel des Michael. Durch seine Eigenschaften, seine Kraft, goß er in die Menschheit dasjenige, was ihr in jenem Zeitpunkte gegeben werden sollte. Und dann kamen andere Wesenheiten, die gleichfalls von den spirituellen Welten aus die Inspiratoren der Menschheit waren, andere Wesenheiten vom Range der Erzengel.
Wie schon erwähnt wurde, war Michael der Größte, der Mächtigste, der Bedeutendste, so daß eine solche Epoche, wie die des Michael, stets die bedeutungsvollste oder eine der bedeutungsvollsten ist, die in der Evolution der Menschheit vorkommen kann. Denn die Epochen der verschiedenen Erzengel wiederholen sich. Und die Tatsache ist von größter Wichtigkeit, daß jede solche Wesenheit von der Hierarchie der Erzengel dem Zeitalter den Grundcharakter gibt. Sie sind hauptsächlich die Führer der verschiedenen Völker, aber dadurch, daß alle Führer bestimmter Epochen werden und weil sie die Führer verflossener Zeitalter waren, so sind sie in gewissem Sinne auch die Führer der ganzen Menschheit geworden.
Was Michael anbetrifft, so hat bis zu unserem jetzigen Zyklus der Evolution eine Veränderung stattgefunden, denn Michael selbst ist durch eine Entwickelung hindurchgegangen. Und das ist von großer Wichtigkeit, denn nach der okkulten Erkenntnis sind wir seit den paar letzten Jahrzehnten wieder in eine Epoche eingetreten, die durch dieselbe Wesenheit inspiriert wird, die das Zeitalter inspirierte, in welchem sich das Mysterium von Golgatha ereignete. Seit dem Ende des 19. Jahrhunderts dürfen wir Michael wieder als Führer ansehen.
Wenn wir dies verstehen wollen, müssen wir das Mysterium von Golgatha von einem anderen Gesichtspunkte aus betrachten und müssen uns fragen: Was ist in diesem Mysterium von hauptsächlichster Bedeutung? Daß die Wesenheit, welche mit dem Namen Christus bezeichnet wird, zu jener Zeit durch das Mysterium von Golgatha und durch die Pforte des Todes ging, das ist von der größten Bedeutung! Niemals in der ganzen Evolution der Erde könnte man von dem Mysterium von Golgatha sprechen, ohne die Tatsache, daß Christus durch den Tod gegangen ist, als das Wesentlichste dieses Mysteriums anzusehen.
Betrachten Sie die Naturgesetze. Viel kann verstanden werden durch das Studium derselben, und in der künftigen Evolution der Erde wird noch viel mehr dadurch gelernt werden, aber wir müßten schon bloße Träumer sein, wenn wir nicht erkennen, daß das Verständnis für das Leben als solches ein Ideal ist, welches nur durch Entwickelung zu begreifen ist und niemals durch das Studium der Naturgesetze. Gewiß gibt es Träumer in unseren Tagen, welche glauben, daß durch die Erkenntnis der Wissenschaft wahres Verständnis für das Prinzip des Lebens mit der Zeit erlangt werde; aber dies wird niemals der Fall sein. Während der Evolution der Erde werden noch viele Gesetze durch die Sinne entdeckt werden, aber das Prinzip des Lebens als solches kann sich auf diese Weise niemals der Welt enthüllen, das kann nur mit den Mitteln der okkulten Erkenntnis geschehen.
Deshalb erscheint uns das Leben als etwas, was hier auf Erden der Wissenschaft unzugänglich ist. Und ebenso wie das Leben dem menschlichen Wissen unzugänglich ist, so ist dies der Fall mit dem Tod dem wahren Wissen gegenüber, welches in den übersinnlichen Welten erlangt wird. In dem ganzen Gebiet der übersinnlichen Welten gibt es keinen Tod. Man kann nur auf Erden sterben, in der physischen Welt oder in den Welten, welche in der Entwickelung unserer Erde gleichen, und alle die Wesenheiten, die hierarchisch höher stehen als der Mensch, haben keine Kenntnis vom Tode, sie kennen nur verschiedene Bewußtseinszustände. Ihr Bewußtsein kann zeitweise so herabgesetzt sein, daß es unserem irdischen Schlafzustand ähnlich ist, aber es kann aus diesem Schlaf wieder aufwachen. Es gibt keinen Tod in der geistigen Welt, es gibt dort nur Verwandlung des Bewußtseins, und die größte Furcht, die der Mensch hat, die Todesfurcht, kann von einem, vor dem aufgestiegen ist die übersinnliche Welt nach dem Tode, nicht empfunden werden. In dem Augenblick, wo der Mensch durch die Pforte des Todes geht, ist sein Zustand ein solcher intensiver Sensibilität, aber er kann nur entweder in einem klaren oder in einem verdunkelten Bewußtseinszustand existieren, und es wäre äußerst sonderbar, wenn man sich vorstellen wollte, daß ein Mensch in der übersinnlichen Welt tot sein könnte.
Es gibt daher keinen Tod für die Wesen, die zu den höheren Hierarchien gehören, mit nur einer einzigen Ausnahme, der des Christus. Aber damit eine übersinnliche Wesenheit wie der Christus durch den Tod gehen konnte, mußte er erst auf die Erde herabsteigen. Und dies ist es, was von so unermeßlicher Wichtigkeit in dem Mysterium von Golgatha ist, daß eine Wesenheit, die in ihrem eigenen Reiche in der Sphäre ihres Willens niemals den Tod hätte erfahren können, hat hinuntersteigen müssen auf die Erde, um eine Erfahrung durchzumachen, die dem Menschen eigen ist, nämlich um den Tod zu erfahren. Dadurch wurde jenes innere Band, jenes tiefe innere Band zwischen der Menschheit auf Erden und Christus geknüpft, indem diese Wesenheit durch den Tod ging, um dieses Schicksal mit der Menschheit zu teilen. Dieser Tod, wie ich schon betonte, ist von der größten Bedeutung hauptsächlich für unsere jetzige Erdenevolution.
Das, was sich damals wirklich ereignet hat für unsere Erdenevolution, ist schon oft besprochen worden. Vor allem vereinigte sich ein Wesen, einzig in seiner Art, welches bis dahin nur kosmisch war, durch das Mysterium von Golgatha, durch den Tod des Christus, mit der Erdenevolution. Es trat ein in die Evolution der Erde zur Zeit des Mysteriums von Golgatha. Es war vorher nicht da. Es gehörte nur dem Kosmos an, aber durch das Mysterium von Golgatha stieg es herunter aus dem Kosmos und verkörperte sich auf Erden. Seitdem lebt es auf eine solche Weise auf Erden, ist so an die Erde gebunden, daß es in den Seelen der Menschen auf Erden lebt und mit ihnen das Leben auf Erden erfährt. Daher war die ganze Zeit vor dem Mysterium von Golgatha nur eine Zeit der Vorbereitung in der Evolution der Erde. Das Mysterium von Golgatha gab der Erde ihren Sinn.
Als das Mysterium von Golgatha stattfand, wurde der irdische Körper des Jesus von Nazareth — wie wir ja aus den verschiedenen Berichten wissen, die wir besitzen — den Elementen der Erde übergeben, und von der Zeit an war der Christus verbunden mit der geistigen Sphäre der Erde und lebt darin. Es ist, wie wir schon sagten, außerordentlich schwierig, das Mysterium von Golgatha zu beschreiben, da wir keinen Maßstab haben, womit wir es vergleichen können, aber wir wollen trotzdem versuchen, uns noch von einem anderen Gesichtspunkt aus ihm zu nähern.
Christus lebte, wie wir wissen, drei Jahre nach der Taufe im Jordan in dem Leibe des Jesus von Nazareth wie ein menschliches Wesen unter den Menschen der Erde. Wir können dies die irdische Offenbarung des Christus in einem physischen menschlichen Leibe nennen. Wie offenbart sich dann der Christus seit der Zeit, da er in dem Mysterium von Golgatha seinen physischen Körper ablegte?
Wir müssen uns natürlich das Christus-Wesen als ein überwältigend hohes Wesen vorstellen, aber obgleich es so hoch erhaben ist, war es ihm trotzdem möglich, sich während der drei Jahre nach der Johannestaufe im Jordan in einem menschlichen Leib zum Ausdruck zu bringen. Aber wie oflenbart es sich seit jener Zeit? Nicht mehr im physischen menschlichen Leib, denn dieser wurde der physischen Erde übergeben und bildet jetzt einen Teil derselben. Denjenigen nun, welche durch das Studium der okkulten Wissenschaft in sich selbst die Möglichkeit entwickelt haben, in diese Verhältnisse hineinzuschauen, wird es sich offenbaren, daß dieses Wesen wiedererkannt werden kann in einem der Hierarchie der Engel angehörenden Wesen. Ebenso wie sich der Erlöser der Welt während der drei Jahre nach der Jordantaufe in einem menschlichen Leibe offenbarte, obgleich dieses Christus-Wesen von so außerordentlicher Hoheit war, so oflenbart es sich seit jener Zeit in direkter Weise als ein Engelwesen, ein geistiges Wesen, welches eine Stufe höher steht als die Menschenwesen. Als ein solches konnte er stets gefunden werden von denen, die hellsichtig waren; als ein solches war er stets mit der Evolution verbunden. So wahr als der Christus, als er im Leibe des Jesus von Nazareth inkarniert war, mehr als Mensch war, so ist das ChristusWesen mehr als Engel. Das ist nur seine äußere Gestalt. Aber in der Tatsache, daß so, wie wir es beschrieben haben, ein mächtiges, erhabenes Wesen herunterstieg von den spirituellen Welten und drei Jahre in einem menschlichen Leibe wohnte, ist auch die weitere Tatsache zum Ausdruck gebracht, daß dieses Wesen während dieser Zeit selbst in seiner Entwickelung um eine Stufe weitergeschritten ist.
Wenn solch ein Wesen solch eine Tat vollbringt, indem es eine menschliche oder eine Engelform annimmt, so schreitet es selbst weiter fort. Und damit haben wir den Fortschritt in der Entwickelung des Christus- Jehova angedeutet, daß der Christus zu dem Zustand gelangt ist, in dem er von jetzt ab sich selbst offenbart, nicht als ein menschliches Wesen, nicht nur durch seine Spiegelung, durch sein zurückgeworfenes Licht, nicht nur durch den Namen des Jehova, sondern unmittelbar. Und das ist der große Unterschied in all den Lehren und all der Weisheit, welche seit dem Mysterium von Golgatha in die Evolution der Erde gekommen sind, daß durch das Kommen des Michael-Geistes auf die Erde, durch seine Inspiration die Menschheit allmählich anfangen konnte, alles das zu verstehen, was der ChristusImpuls, was das Mysterium von Golgatha bedeutet. Aber zu jener Zeit war Michael zunächst der Sendbote des Jehova, der die Spiegelung des Christus-Glanzes ist, er war noch nicht der Sendbote des Christus selbst.
Michael inspirierte die Menschheit mehrere Jahrhunderte hindurch, ungefähr fünfhundert Jahre lang vor dem Mysterium von Golgatha, wie schon in den alten Mysterien, von Plato und so weiter angegeben wurde. Bald jedoch, nachdem das Mysterium von Golgatha stattgefunden und Christus sich mit der Evolution der Erde vereinigt hatte, hörte der unmittelbare Einfluß des Michael auf. Zu der Zeit, als jene alten Dokumente, welche wir in der Form der Evangelien besitzen, geschrieben wurden — wie ich es beschrieben habe in meinem Buche «Das Christentum als mystische Tatsache» -, konnte Michael selbst die Menschheit nicht mehr inspirieren, aber durch seine Gefährten unter den Erzengeln wurde sie so inspiriert, daß viel Seelenkraft unbewußt durch Inspiration aufgenommen wurde.
Die Schreiber selbst hatten keine deutliche okkulte Erkenntnis, denn die Inspiration des Michael ging zu Ende kurz nach dem Ereignis des Mysteriums von Golgatha. Die anderen Erzengel, die Gefährten des Michael, konnten die Menschheit nicht in der Weise inspirieren, um das Mysterium von Golgatha verständlich zu machen. Dies erklärt die abweichenden Interpretationen der verschiedenen christlichen Lehren. In diesen Lehren wurde viel durch die Gefährten des Michael inspiriert. Diese Lehren wurden nicht von Michael selbst inspiriert, sondern stehen in demselben Verhältnis zu seinen Inspirationen wie die Planeten zu der mächtigen Sonne.
Jetzt erst in unserer Zeit ist wieder ein solcher Einfluß da, eine direkte Inspiration von Michael. Diese direkte Inspiration von Michael wurde seit dem 16. Jahrhundert vorbereitet. In jener Zeit war es der Erzengel, der Michael am nächsten stand, welcher der Menschheit die Inspiration gab, die zu der Vervollkommnung der Naturwissenschaft in unserer modernen Zeit führte. Die Naturwissenschaft der heutigen Zeit rührt nicht von der Inspiration des Michael her, sondern von einem seiner Gefährten, Gabriel. Diese wissenschaftliche Inspiration neigt dazu, eine Wissenschaft, eine Anschauung zu schaffen, die nur für die materielle Welt Verständnis gibt und mit dem physischen Gehirn zusammenhängt.
Innerhalb der letzten paar Jahrzehnte hat Michael den Platz dieses Inspirators der Wissenschaft wieder eingenommen, und in den nächsten paar Jahrhunderten wird Michael der Welt etwas geben, was in einem spirituellen Sinne ebenso wichtig — ja noch wichtiger, weil noch spiritueller —, unermeßlich viel wichtiger ist als die materielle Wissenschaft, die von Stufe zu Stufe fortgeschritten ist seit dem 16. Jahrhundert. Geradeso wie sein Erzengelgefährte ehemals der Welt die Wissenschaft schenkte, so wird Michael uns in der Zukunft spirituelle Erkenntnis geben, an deren erstem Anfang wir uns jetzt befinden. Genauso wie Michael geschickt wurde als der Sendbote des Jehova, der Spiegelung des Christus, fünfhundert Jahre vor dem Mysterium von Golgatha, um jener Ära ihren Stempel zu geben, genauso wie er damals noch der Sendbote Jehovas war, so ist jetzt für unsere Zeit Michael der Sendbote des Christus selbst geworden. Genauso wie in den alten hebräischen Zeiten, welche eine unmittelbare Vorbereitung für das Mysterium von Golgatha waren, die alten hebräischen Eingeweihten sich an Michael wenden konnten als an die äußere Offenbarung des Jahve oder Jehova, so sind wir jetzt in der Lage, uns an Michael zu wenden, der vom Sendboten des Jehova nun zum Sendboten des Christus geworden ist, um von ihm während der nächsten paar Jahrhunderte zunehmende spirituelle Offenbarung zu empfangen, welche uns immer mehr und mehr das Mysterium von Golgatha enthüllen wird. Das, was vor zweitausend Jahren stattfand, aber was der Welt nur durch die verschiedenen christlichen Sekten bekanntgemacht werden konnte, und dessen Tiefen erst im 20. Jahrhundert enthüllt werden können, wenn statt der Wissenschaft spirituelle Erkenntnis, die Gabe von Michael, sich geltend machen wird, das ist es, was unsere Herzen mit unermeßlich tiefen Gefühlen erfüllen sollte gegenüber dem Spirituellen in unserer Zeit. Wir werden erfahren können, daß in den letzten paat Jahrzehnten ein Tor sich geöffnet hat, durch welches uns Verständnis kommen kann.
Michael kann uns neues spirituelles Licht geben, das wir als eine Umgestaltung jenes Lichtes betrachten können, das durch ihn zur Zeit des Mysteriums von Golgatha gegeben wurde, und die Menschen unserer Zeit dürfen sich in dieses Licht stellen. Wenn wir dies empfinden können, so können wir die ganze Bedeutung des neuen Zeitalters begreifen, welches gerade jetzt aus dem unsrigen hervorgeht. Wir können das Aufdämmern einer spirituellen Offenbarung bemerken, die in den nächsten paar Jahrhunderten in das Leben der Menschheit auf Erden kommen soll. In der Tat, da die Menschheit freier geworden ist als sie früher war, werden wir durch unseren eigenen Willen fähig sein, so fortzuschreiten, um diese Offenbarung empfangen zu können.
Wir wollen jetzt auf das Ereignis in den höheren Welten hinweisen, welches zu diesem veränderten Zustand geführt hat, zu dieser Zeit der Erneuerung des Mysteriums von Golgatha. Wenn wir auf jene Zeit zurückschauen, so erinnern wir uns an das, was oft durch unsere Seele geströmt sein mag, durch dasjenige, was sich damals bei der Johannestaufe im Jordan ereignete, als Christus sich in einer menschlichen Form offenbarte, die sichtbar war auf Erden unter den Menschen. Und weiter wollen wir unsere Seele mit dem Gedanken erfüllen, wie Christus dann, was seine äußere Form anbetrifft, sich mit der Hierarchie der Engel vereinigte und seit jener Zeit unsichtbar in der Erde gelebt hat.
Erinnern wir uns an das, was gesagt worden ist, nämlich, daß es in den unsichtbaren Welten keinen Tod gibt. Christus selbst, dadurch, daß er auf unsere Welt herunterstieg, ging durch einen Tod ähnlich dem der Menschen. Als er wieder eine rein geistige Wesenheit wurde, behielt er noch immer die Erinnerung an seinen Tod bei. Aber als eine Wesenheit vom Range der Engel, in welcher er sich weiterhin äußerlich offenbarte, konnte er nur eine Herabminderung des Bewußtseins erfahren.
Durch das, was seit dem 16. Jahrhundert notwendig geworden war für die Evolution der Erde, nämlich der Triumph der Wissenschaft, welche höher und höher steigt, trat in die ganze Evolution der Menschheit etwas ein, was auch für die unsichtbaren Welten von Bedeutung ist. Mit dem Triumph der Wissenschaft kamen in die Menschheit materialistische und agnostische Gefühle von größerer Intensität, als es bis dahin der Fall gewesen war. Auch früher gab es materialistische Tendenzen, aber es gab nicht diese Intensität des Materialismus, wie sie seit dem 16. Jahrhundert vorherrschend geworden war. Immer mehr und mehr nahmen die Menschen, wenn sie durch die Pforte des Todes in die geistigen Welten eingingen, das Resultat ihrer materialistischen Ideen auf Erden mit sich, so daß nach dem 16. Jahrhundert immer mehr und mehr Samen von irdischem Materialismus hinübergetragen wurden. Diese Samen entwickelten sich in einer bestimmten Art und Weise.
Obwohl Christus in die alte hebräische Rasse kam und dort zu seinem Tode geführt wurde, erlitt dennoch das Engelwesen, welches seitdem die äußere Form des Christus ist, im Laufe des 19. Jahrhunderts ein Auslöschen des Bewußtseins als das Resultat der gegnerischen materialistischen Kräfte, die in .die geistigen Welten heraufgekommen waren, als das Ergebnis der materialistischen Menschenseelen, die durch die Pforte des Todes gingen. Und das Eintreten von Bewußtlosigkeit in den geistigen Welten in der eben beschriebenen Weise wird die Auferstehung des Christus-Bewußtseins in den Seelen der Menschen auf Erden zwischen Geburt und Tod im 20. Jahrhundert werden. In gewissem Sinne kann man daher voraussagen, daß vom 20. Jahrhundert an das, was der Menschheit verlorengegangen ist an Bewußtsein, sicherlich wieder heraufsteigen wird für das hellseherische Schauen. Anfangs nur wenige, dann eine immer wachsende Anzahl von Wesen wird im 20. Jahrhundert fähig sein, die Erscheinung des ätherischen Christus, das heißt Christus in der Gestalt eines Engels, wahrzunehmen. Um der Menschheit willen geschah das, was man eine Zerstörung von Bewußtsein nennen kann, in den Welten, die unmittelbar über unserer irdischen Welt liegen, und in welchen der Christus sichtbar gewesen ist in der Zeit zwischen dem Mysterium von Golgatha und dem heutigen Tage.
Man kann sagen, daß zur Zeit des Mysteriums von Golgatha sich in einem wenig bekannten Winkel von Palästina etwas ereignete, was tatsächlich das größte Ereignis war, welches jemals in der ganzen Menschheit eintrat, aber von dem wenig Notiz genommen wurde von den damaligen Menschen. Wenn so etwas stattfinden konnte, können wir da erstaunt sein, wenn wir hören, was sich während des 19. Jahrhunderts zutrug, als diejenigen, die seit dem 16. Jahrhundert durch die Pforte des Todes gegangen sind, sich dem Christus entgegenstellten ?
«Die Samen von irdischem Materialismus», die seit dem 16. Jahrhundert in die geistige Welt in immer größerem Maße von den durch die Pforte des Todes schreitenden Seelen hinaufgetragen wurden und immer mehr Dunkelheit bewirkten, bildeten die «schwarze Sphäre des Materialismus». Diese schwarze Sphäre wurde von Christus im Sinne des manichäischen Prinzips in sein Wesen aufgenommen, um sie umzuwandeln. Sie bewirkte indem Engelwesen, in dem sich die ChristusWesenheit seit dem Mysterium von Golgatha offenbarte, den «geistigen Erstickungstod». Dieses Opfer des Christus im 19. Jahrhundert ist vergleichbar dem Opfer auf dem physischen Plan im Mysterium von Golgatha und kann als die zweite Kreuzigung des Christus auf dem Ätherplan bezeichnet werden. Dieser geistige Erstickungstod, der die Aufhebung des Bewußtseins jenes Engelwesens herbeiführte, ist eine Wiederholung des Mysteriums von Golgatha in den Welten, die unmittelbar hinter der unsrigen liegen, damit ein Wiederaufleben des früher verborgenen Christus-Bewußtseins in den Seelen der Menschen auf Erden stattfinden kann. Dieses Wiederaufleben wird zum hellseherischen Schauen der Menschheit im 20. Jahrhundert.
So kann das Christus-Bewußtsein mit dem irdischen Bewußtsein der Menschheit vom 20. Jahrhundert an vereinigt werden, denn das Ersterben des Christus-Bewußtseins in der Engelsphäre im 19. Jahrhundert bedeutet das Auferstehen des unmittelbaren Christus-Bewußtseins in der Erdensphäre, das heißt, das Leben des Christus wird vom 20. Jahrhundert an immer mehr und mehr in den Seelen der Menschen gefühlt werden als ein direktes persönliches Erlebnis.
Genauso wie die wenigen Menschen, die in jenen Tagen die Zeichen der Zeit lesen konnten, in der Lage waren, das Mysterium von Golgatha so zu betrachten, daß sie erfassen konnten, wie diese große, mächtige Wesenheit aus den geistigen Welten herniederstieg, um auf Erden zu leben und durch den Tod zu gehen, damit durch seinen Tod die Substanzen seines Wesens der Erde einverleibt werden konnten, so können wir wahrnehmen, daß in gewissen Welten, die unmittelbar hinter der unsrigen liegen, eine Art geistiger Tod, eine Aufhebung des Bewußtseins stattfand und hiermit eine Wiederholung des Mysteriums von Golgatha, damit ein Wiederaufleben des früher verborgenen Christus-Bewußtseins in den Seelen der Menschen auf Erden stattfinden kann.
Seit dem Mysterium von Golgatha konnten viele Menschen den Namen des Christus verkünden, und von diesem 20. Jahrhundert an wird es eine stetig wachsende Anzahl von solchen geben, die das Wissen von der Christus-Wesenheit mitteilen können, welches in der Geisteswissenschaft gegeben wird. Sie werden ihn aus ihrer eigenen Erfahrung heraus lehren, verkünden können. Zweimal schon ist der Christus gekreuzigt worden: das eine Mal physisch in der physischen Welt im Anfang unseres Zeitalters und ein zweites Mal im 19. Jahrhundert spirituell in der beschriebenen Weise. Man könnte sagen, die Menschheit erlebte die Auferstehung seines Leibes in der damaligen Zeit; sie wird die Auferstehung seines Bewußtseins vom 20. Jahrhundert an erleben.
Das, was ich nur in einigen Worten habe andeuten können, wird allmählich in die Menschenseelen eindringen, und der Vermittler, der Sendbote wird Michael sein, der jetzt der Abgesandte des Christus ist. So wie er früher die Seelen der Menschen leitete, damit sie das Hinlenken seines Lebens vom Himmel zur Erde verstehen konnten, so bereitet er jetzt die Menschheit vor, damit sie fähig werde, das Hinlenken des Christus-Bewußtseins aus dem Zustand des Unbewußten in den Zustand des Bewußten zu erleben. Und genauso wie zur Zeit des Erdenlebens des Christus die größere Anzahl seiner Zeitgenossen unfähig war zu glauben, welch mächtiges Ereignis sich in der Erdenevolution zugetragen hatte, so strebt in unserer Zeit die Außenwelt danach, die Macht des Materialismus zu vergrößern, und wird auf lange Zeit hinaus fortfahren, das, was wir heute besprochen haben, als Phantasie, Träumerei, vielleicht auch als Torheit anzusehen. Und so wird sie auch diese Wahrheit über Michael ansehen, der in der jetzigen Zeit anfängt, den Christus von neuem zu offenbaren. Trotzdem werden viele Menschen das erkennen, was jetzt beginnt wie eine Morgenröte aufzugehen und was sich während der kommenden Jahrhunderte in die menschlichen Seelen wie eine Sonne ergießen wird, denn Michael kann stets mit einer Sonne verglichen werden. Und wenn auch viele Menschen diese neue Michael-Offenbarung nicht anerkennen werden, so wird sie sich trotzdem über die Menschheit ausbreiten.
Das ist es, was heute gesagt werden kann über die Beziehung des Mysteriums von Golgatha, welches sich im Anfang unserer Zeitrechnung ereignete, zu dem Mysterium von Golgatha, wie es heute verstanden werden kann. Machen wir uns diese Gefühle zu eigen, indem wir erkennen, daß wir nur so wahre Geisteswissenschafter werden können. Von Zeit zu Zeit werden andere Offenbarungen kommen, für die wir unseren Sinn offenhalten müssen. Sollten wir nicht empfinden, daß es ganz besonders egoistisch sein würde, diese Gefühle ausschließlich zu unserer eigenen Genugtuung zu haben? Fühlen wir doch lieber, daß es unsere ernste Pflicht ist, wie wir sie durch die Geisteswissenschaft erkannt haben, uns zu bereitwilligen Werkzeugen für solche Offenbarung zu machen. Und obgleich wir nur eine kleine Gesellschaft sind in der ganzen Menschheit, die sich bemüht, diese neue Wahrheit vom Mysterium von Golgatha zu verstehen, diese neue Offenbarung des Michael zu erfassen, so bauen wir trotzdem eine neue Kraft auf, die nicht im geringsten von unserem Glauben an diese Offenbarung abhängt, sondern die einzig und allein von dieser Offenbarung selbst, von der Wahrheit selbst abhängt.
Dann werden wir ganz ruhig erkennen, daß nur einzelne von uns dazu vorbereitet sind, der Welt folgendes zu erklären, soweit sie es hören will: Von jetzt ab gibt es eine neue Offenbarung des Christus. Wir wollen bereit sein, sie anzuerkennen, wir wollen zu jenem kleinen Kreis gehören, der dazu helfen will, damit sie größer, dauernd werde, wir wollen auf die innere Kraft einer solchen Offenbarung bauen, so daß sie sich unter der übrigen Menschheit ausbreiten möge, denn diese Erkenntnis wird allmählich allen zuteil werden.
Dies ist es, was wir Weisheit nennen, was manche Torheit nennen mögen. Um fest dazustehen, brauchen wir uns nur heute daran zu erinnern, daß diese jetzige Zeit diejenige der zweiten Michael-Offenbarung ist, und auch daran, was von einem der alten Eingeweihten gesagt wurde zur Zeit der ersten Michael-Offenbarung: Was den Menschen oft als Torheit erscheint, ist vor Gott Weisheit.
Versuchen wir heute, Kraft für uns selbst aus solchen Gefühlen, aus solcher geistigen Erkenntnis zu ziehen, die in vieler Beziehung der äußeren Welt als Torheit erscheinen muß. Fassen wir den Mut, anzuerkennen, daß dasjenige, was für die, die sich nur auf die Sinne verlassen, als Torheit erscheint, für uns Weisheit und Licht sein kann und ein klareres Verständnis der übersinnlichen, geistigen Welten, zu denen wir mit der ganzen Kraft unserer Seelen und unserer Überzeugung streben wollen.
Christ at the Time of the Mystery of Golgotha and Christ in the Twentieth Century
Of all mysteries, the mystery of Golgotha is the most difficult to understand, even for those who are already advanced in occult knowledge, and of all truths with which humanity can come into contact, it is the one that can most easily be misunderstood. This is connected with the fact that the mystery of Golgotha was a unique event in the entire evolution of the earth, that it was a powerful impulse in the development of humanity on earth, which had never before occurred in the same way and which will never be repeated in the same way. However, the human mind always seeks a standard, a comparison by which things can be understood. But something that is incomparable cannot be compared, and because it is unique, it is difficult to understand.
Now, in the spiritual scientific movement in which we work, we have endeavored to characterize this mystery of Golgotha from various points of view. But new points of view can continually be chosen, new characteristics constantly brought to light, in order to describe this powerful event in the evolution of humanity on earth.
Such a viewpoint, such an aspect, is to be presented here today, and attention is to be directed in particular to what can be called, in a certain sense, the renewal of the mystery of Golgotha in our time, in our present human cycle.
If one wants to understand the mystery of Golgotha thoroughly, one should not regard it as something completely separate from human evolution, to be considered only during its duration of three or thirty-three years, but one should consider how it occurred precisely in the fourth post-Atlantean period, in the so-called Greco-Latin cultural epoch, and one should also consider that this mystery of Golgotha was prepared throughout the entire development of the ancient Hebrew people. Not only is what happened to humanity during the fourth post-Atlantean age extremely important for the mystery of Golgotha, but what was prepared throughout the entire ancient Hebrew culture, namely the worship of Jehovah, is also of significant importance. First of all, it is important to understand who was the being who revealed himself in ancient Hebrew times under the name Yahweh or Jehovah.
Now, the human being of today is a being who, above all, develops his intellect in terms of his reason and understanding, and loves to understand things from an intellectual standpoint.
However, the moment one crosses the threshold from the sensory world into the supersensible worlds, the possibility of grasping reality solely by means of the intellect ceases. The human mind can serve us well on earth, but the moment we enter the supersensible worlds, it is no longer sufficient as a means of gaining knowledge, even though it can still be regarded as a useful instrument.
This mind loves above all to make distinctions, and in order to understand something, it needs a definition. Those of you who have followed my lectures frequently will have noticed the absence of almost any definitions. One cannot grasp the things of reality through definitions. There are certainly good and bad definitions, definitions that are comprehensive and others that are less satisfactory. Definitions are necessary to understand the affairs of the earth, but if one wants to understand things that belong to reality, namely things that belong to the supersensible reality, then one cannot define. One must characterize, because then it is necessary to consider the facts and the essences from all points of view.
Definitions are always one-sided and remind those who have studied logic of the ancient Greek school of philosophy, which once sought to define what a human being is. In order to give an idea of what a human being is, the following definition was established: A human being is a two-legged creature without feathers. The next day, someone brought in a plucked chicken and said: This is a two-legged creature and has no feathers, therefore it is a human being. — One is often reminded of this when definitions are demanded for something that is so multifaceted and ambiguous that definitions are insufficient and one can only characterize it. But above all, in order to be able to distinguish between the various beings in the supersensible worlds, people want to have a definition. They ask: What exactly is such a being? — But the further one penetrates into the supersensible worlds, the more the beings there interpenetrate; they are no longer separated from one another, so that it is difficult to distinguish them from one another.
Above all, one must not disregard evolution when considering the name Yahweh or Jehovah, especially when connecting it with the name of Christ. Even in the New Testament you will find—and I have often pointed this out in my books—that Christ revealed himself through Jehovah, as far as he was able to do so before the mystery of Golgotha.
If one wants to draw a comparison between Jehovah and Christ, it is good to use sunlight and moonlight as an image. What is sunlight, what is moonlight? They are one and the same and yet very different. Sunlight streams from the sun, but in moonlight, sunlight is reflected back by the moon. In the same way, Christ and Jehovah are one and the same. Christ is like sunlight, Jehovah is like the reflected light of Christ, insofar as it was able to reveal itself to the earth under the name of Jehovah before the mystery of Golgotha occurred. And again, when such a noble being as Jehovah-Christ comes into question, we must search for his true meaning in the sublime heights of the supersensible worlds. In reality, it is presumptuous to approach such a being as Jehovah-Christ with everyday concepts.
Now the ancient Hebrews tried to find a way out of this difficulty. Human thinking power is weak, but it tries to form an idea of this sublime being. Attention was not directed directly to Jehovah—a name that was considered unpronounceable in and of itself—but to the being who is referred to in our Western literature as Michael. Of course, some misunderstanding may arise from this assertion, but that is unavoidable. Some might say that this will reawaken the prejudices of Christians, while others want nothing to do with such things. But the being whom we may call Michael, and who belongs to the hierarchy of the Archangels, whatever we may call this being, does exist. And there are many such beings who belong to the same rank. But this particular being, known esoterically as Michael, is as exalted above his companions as the sun is exalted above the planets, above Venus, Mercury, Jupiter, Saturn, and so on.
He, Michael, is the most outstanding and significant being in the hierarchy of the archangels. The ancient Hebrews called Michael “the face of God.” Just as a person reveals himself through his gestures and the expression on his face, so in the mythology of the ancients, Jehovah was understood through Michael. Jehovah revealed himself to the initiate in such a way that the initiate could grasp something that he could never have understood before with his ordinary powers of comprehension, namely, that Michael was the face of Jehovah. Thus the ancient Hebrews spoke of Jehovah-Michael: Jehovah, the unapproachable one, whom one cannot reach, just as one cannot reach a person's thoughts, sufferings, and sorrows that lie behind their outward expression. Michael is the outward revelation of Yahweh or Jehovah, just as one recognizes the revelation of the human ego on the forehead and face.
And so we can say that Jehovah revealed himself through Michael, one of the archangels. The knowledge of the one we have described as Yahweh was not limited to the ancient Hebrews; it was much more widespread. And if we examine the last five centuries before the Christian era, we find that during this entire time a revelation took place through Michael.
We can discover this revelation in another form in Plato, Socrates, Aristotle, in Greek philosophy, even in the ancient Greek tragedies during the five centuries before the event at Golgotha.
If we try, with the help of occult knowledge, to shine light on what actually happened, we can say that Christ-Jehovah is the being who has accompanied humanity throughout its entire evolution. But during the epochs that follow one another, Christ-Jehovah always reveals himself through different beings of the same rank as Michael. He always chooses, so to speak, a different face with which he turns to humanity. And depending on which one is chosen from the hierarchy of archangels to be the mediator between Christ-Jehovah and humanity, very different ideas and conceptions, impulses of feeling, impulses of will, and so on are revealed to human beings. We can describe the entire period surrounding the mystery of Golgotha as the time of Michael, and we can regard Michael as the messenger of Jehovah.
In the period approximately five hundred years preceding the mystery of Golgotha and continuing for several decades thereafter, the leading culture of humanity bore, so to speak, the stamp of Michael. Through his qualities and his power, he poured into humanity that which was to be given to it at that time. And then came other beings who were also inspirers of humanity from the spiritual worlds, other beings of the rank of archangels.
As already mentioned, Michael was the greatest, the most powerful, the most significant, so that an epoch such as that of Michael is always the most significant or one of the most significant that can occur in the evolution of humanity. For the epochs of the various archangels repeat themselves. And it is of the utmost importance that each such being from the hierarchy of archangels gives the age its basic character. They are mainly the leaders of the various peoples, but because they all become leaders of certain epochs and because they were the leaders of past ages, they have in a certain sense also become the leaders of the whole of humanity.
As far as Michael is concerned, a change has taken place up to our present cycle of evolution, for Michael himself has undergone a development. And this is of great importance, because according to occult knowledge, we have entered a new epoch in the last few decades, inspired by the same being who inspired the age in which the mystery of Golgotha took place. Since the end of the 19th century, we can once again regard Michael as our leader.
If we want to understand this, we must look at the mystery of Golgotha from a different perspective and ask ourselves: What is of primary importance in this mystery? That the being designated by the name Christ passed through the mystery of Golgotha and through the gate of death at that time is of the greatest importance! Never in the entire evolution of the earth could one speak of the mystery of Golgotha without considering the fact that Christ passed through death as the most essential aspect of this mystery.
Consider the laws of nature. Much can be understood by studying them, and much more will be learned through them in the future evolution of the earth, but we would have to be mere dreamers if we did not recognize that understanding life as such is an ideal that can only be grasped through evolution and never through the study of the laws of nature. Certainly there are dreamers in our day who believe that through scientific knowledge a true understanding of the principle of life will be attained in time; but this will never be the case. During the evolution of the earth, many laws will still be discovered through the senses, but the principle of life as such can never be revealed to the world in this way; this can only be done by means of occult knowledge.
That is why life appears to us as something that is inaccessible to science here on earth. And just as life is inaccessible to human knowledge, so is death inaccessible to true knowledge, which is attained in the supersensible worlds. In the entire realm of the supersensible worlds, there is no death. One can only die on earth, in the physical world or in worlds similar to those in the evolution of our earth, and all beings hierarchically higher than man have no knowledge of death; they know only different states of consciousness. Their consciousness may be temporarily reduced to a state similar to our earthly sleep, but it can awaken again from this sleep. There is no death in the spiritual world; there is only a transformation of consciousness, and the greatest fear that humans have, the fear of death, cannot be felt by someone who has ascended to the supersensible world after death. At the moment when a person passes through the gate of death, their state is one of intense sensitivity, but they can only exist in either a clear or a darkened state of consciousness, and it would be extremely strange to imagine that a person could be dead in the supersensible world.
There is therefore no death for beings belonging to the higher hierarchies, with only one exception, that of Christ. But in order for a supersensible being such as Christ to pass through death, he first had to descend to earth. And this is what is so immeasurably important in the mystery of Golgotha: that a being who could never have experienced death in his own realm, in the sphere of his will, had to descend to earth in order to undergo an experience that is peculiar to human beings, namely, to experience death. Through this, that inner bond, that deep inner bond between humanity on Earth and Christ was formed, in that this being passed through death in order to share this fate with humanity. This death, as I have already emphasized, is of the greatest significance mainly for our present Earth evolution.
What really happened at that time for our Earth evolution has already been discussed many times. Above all, a being, unique in its kind, which until then had only been cosmic, united itself with Earth evolution through the Mystery of Golgotha, through the death of Christ. It entered into the evolution of the earth at the time of the Mystery of Golgotha. It was not there before. It belonged only to the cosmos, but through the Mystery of Golgotha it descended from the cosmos and incarnated on earth. Since then, it has lived on Earth in such a way, is so bound to Earth, that it lives in the souls of human beings on Earth and experiences life on Earth with them. Therefore, the entire time before the Mystery of Golgotha was only a time of preparation in the evolution of Earth. The Mystery of Golgotha gave Earth its meaning.
When the Mystery of Golgotha took place, the earthly body of Jesus of Nazareth — as we know from the various accounts we have — was handed over to the elements of the earth, and from that time on, Christ was connected with the spiritual sphere of the earth and lives there. As we have already said, it is extremely difficult to describe the mystery of Golgotha, since we have no standard by which to compare it, but we will nevertheless try to approach it from another point of view.
Christ lived, as we know, three years after his baptism in the Jordan in the body of Jesus of Nazareth as a human being among the people of the earth. We can call this the earthly revelation of Christ in a physical human body. How, then, has Christ revealed himself since the time he laid down his physical body in the mystery of Golgotha?
We must, of course, imagine the Christ being as an overwhelmingly high being, but although it is so exalted, it was nevertheless possible for it to express itself in a human body during the three years after the baptism of John in the Jordan. But how has it revealed itself since that time? No longer in the physical human body, for this was surrendered to the physical earth and now forms part of it. To those who, through the study of occult science, have developed within themselves the ability to look into these conditions, it will become apparent that this being can be recognized in one of the beings belonging to the hierarchy of angels. Just as the Savior of the world revealed himself in a human body during the three years after his baptism in the Jordan, even though this Christ being was of such extraordinary majesty, so since that time he has revealed himself directly as an angelic being, a spiritual being who stands one step higher than human beings. As such, he could always be found by those who were clairvoyant; as such, he was always connected with evolution. As true as it is that Christ, when incarnated in the body of Jesus of Nazareth, was more than a human being, so the Christ being is more than an angel. That is only his outer form. But in the fact that, as we have described, a powerful, exalted being descended from the spiritual worlds and dwelt in a human body for three years, the further fact is also expressed that during this time this being itself advanced one step further in its development.
When such a being accomplishes such an act by taking on a human or angelic form, it advances further itself. And with this we have indicated the progress in the development of Christ-Jehovah, that Christ has reached the state in which he now reveals himself, not as a human being, not only through his reflection, through his reflected light, not only through the name of Jehovah, but directly. And that is the great difference in all the teachings and all the wisdom that have come into the evolution of the earth since the mystery of Golgotha, that through the coming of the Michael spirit to the earth, through his inspiration, humanity has gradually been able to begin to understand all that the Christ impulse, the mystery of Golgotha, means. But at that time, Michael was first the messenger of Jehovah, who is the reflection of the Christ light; he was not yet the messenger of Christ himself.
Michael inspired humanity for several centuries, approximately five hundred years before the Mystery of Golgotha, as was already indicated in the ancient mysteries, by Plato, and so on. Soon after the Mystery of Golgotha took place and Christ united himself with the evolution of the earth, however, Michael's direct influence ceased. At the time when those ancient documents which we possess in the form of the Gospels were written—as I have described in my book Christianity as Mystical Fact—Michael himself could no longer inspire humanity, but through his companions among the archangels, humanity was so inspired that much soul power was unconsciously absorbed through inspiration.
The writers themselves had no clear occult knowledge, for Michael's inspiration came to an end shortly after the event of the Mystery of Golgotha. The other archangels, Michael's companions, could not inspire humanity in such a way as to make the Mystery of Golgotha understandable. This explains the divergent interpretations of the various Christian teachings. Much of these teachings was inspired by Michael's companions. These teachings were not inspired by Michael himself, but stand in the same relationship to his inspirations as the planets stand to the mighty sun.
Only now, in our time, is such an influence present again, a direct inspiration from Michael. This direct inspiration from Michael has been prepared since the 16th century. At that time, it was the archangel closest to Michael who gave humanity the inspiration that led to the perfection of natural science in our modern age. The natural science of today does not stem from Michael's inspiration, but from one of his companions, Gabriel. This scientific inspiration tends to create a science, a view that only provides understanding of the material world and is connected to the physical brain.
Within the last few decades, Michael has regained his place as the inspirer of science, and in the next few centuries Michael will give the world something that is just as important in a spiritual sense—indeed, even more important because it is even more spiritual—and immeasurably more important than the material science that has advanced from stage to stage since the 16th century. Just as his archangel companion once gave the world science, so Michael will give us spiritual knowledge in the future, the first beginnings of which we are now experiencing. Just as Michael was sent as the messenger of Jehovah, the reflection of Christ, five hundred years before the Mystery of Golgotha, to mark that era, just as he was then still the messenger of Jehovah, so now Michael has become the messenger of Christ himself for our time. Just as in ancient Hebrew times, which were a direct preparation for the mystery of Golgotha, the ancient Hebrew initiates could turn to Michael as the outer revelation of Yahweh or Jehovah, so we are now able to turn to Michael, who has now become the messenger of Christ, in order to receive from him, during the next few centuries, increasing spiritual revelation that will reveal to us more and more the mystery of Golgotha. What took place two thousand years ago, but which could only be made known to the world through the various Christian sects, and whose depths can only be revealed in the 20th century, when spiritual knowledge, the gift of Michael, will prevail over science, is what should fill our hearts with immeasurably deep feelings toward the spiritual in our time. We will be able to learn that in the last few decades a gate has opened through which understanding can come to us.
Michael can give us new spiritual light, which we can regard as a transformation of the light that was given through him at the time of the Mystery of Golgotha, and the people of our time may stand in this light. If we can feel this, we can understand the full meaning of the new age that is now emerging from our own. We can perceive the dawn of a spiritual revelation that is to come into the life of humanity on earth in the next few centuries. Indeed, as humanity has become freer than it was before, we will be able, through our own will, to progress in such a way as to receive this revelation.
Let us now turn our attention to the event in the higher worlds that has led to this changed state, to this time of renewal of the mystery of Golgotha. When we look back to that time, we remember what may often have flowed through our souls through what happened at the baptism of John in the Jordan, when Christ revealed himself in a human form that was visible on earth among human beings. And let us further fill our souls with the thought of how Christ, in terms of his outer form, united himself with the hierarchy of angels and has lived invisibly in the earth ever since.
Let us remember what has been said, namely that there is no death in the invisible worlds. Christ himself, by descending to our world, underwent a death similar to that of human beings. When he became a purely spiritual being again, he still retained the memory of his death. But as a being of the rank of angels, in which he continued to manifest himself outwardly, he could only experience a reduction in consciousness.
Through what had become necessary for the evolution of the earth since the 16th century, namely the triumph of science, which rises higher and higher, something entered into the entire evolution of humanity that is also significant for the invisible worlds. With the triumph of science, materialistic and agnostic feelings of greater intensity than had previously been the case entered into humanity. Materialistic tendencies had existed earlier, but there was not the intensity of materialism that had become prevalent since the 16th century. More and more, when people entered the spiritual worlds through the gate of death, they took with them the results of their materialistic ideas on earth, so that after the 16th century, more and more seeds of earthly materialism were carried over. These seeds developed in a certain way.
Although Christ came into the ancient Hebrew race and was led there to his death, the angelic being that has been the outer form of Christ since then nevertheless suffered an extinction of consciousness during the 19th century as a result of the opposing materialistic forces that had arisen in the spiritual worlds as the result of the materialistic souls that had passed through the gate of death. the spiritual worlds as a result of the materialistic human souls that passed through the gate of death. And the onset of unconsciousness in the spiritual worlds in the manner just described will be the resurrection of Christ consciousness in the souls of human beings on earth between birth and death in the 20th century. In a certain sense, therefore, it can be predicted that from the 20th century onwards, what humanity has lost in consciousness will certainly rise again for clairvoyant vision. At first only a few, then an ever-increasing number of beings will be able to perceive the appearance of the etheric Christ, that is, Christ in the form of an angel, in the 20th century. For the sake of humanity, what can be called a destruction of consciousness took place in the worlds immediately above our earthly world, in which Christ was visible between the Mystery of Golgotha and the present day.
It can be said that at the time of the Mystery of Golgotha, something happened in a little-known corner of Palestine that was actually the greatest event ever to occur in the whole of humanity, but which was hardly noticed by the people of that time. If something like this could happen, can we be surprised when we hear what happened during the 19th century, when those who had passed through the gate of death since the 16th century opposed Christ?
The “seeds of earthly materialism,” which had been carried up into the spiritual world in ever-increasing measure since the 16th century by souls passing through the gate of death, causing ever more darkness, formed the “black sphere of materialism.” This black sphere was taken into Christ's being in accordance with the Manichean principle in order to transform it. It caused the “spiritual suffocation” through angelic beings in whom the Christ being had revealed itself since the Mystery of Golgotha. This sacrifice of Christ in the 19th century is comparable to the sacrifice on the physical plane in the Mystery of Golgotha and can be described as the second crucifixion of Christ on the etheric plane. This spiritual suffocation, which brought about the suspension of the consciousness of that angelic being, is a repetition of the Mystery of Golgotha in the worlds immediately behind ours, so that a revival of the previously hidden Christ consciousness can take place in the souls of human beings on earth. This revival will become the clairvoyant vision of humanity in the 20th century.
In this way, Christ consciousness can be united with the earthly consciousness of humanity from the 20th century onwards, for the death of Christ consciousness in the angelic sphere in the 19th century means the resurrection of immediate Christ consciousness in the earthly sphere, that is, from the 20th century onwards, the life of Christ will be felt more and more in the souls of human beings as a direct personal experience.
Just as the few people who were able to read the signs of the times in those days were able to view the mystery of Golgotha in such a way that they could comprehend how this great, powerful being descended from the spiritual worlds to live on earth and pass through death, so that through his death the substances of his being could be incorporated into the earth, so we can perceive that in certain worlds immediately behind ours, a kind of spiritual death, a suspension of consciousness, took place, and with it a repetition of the mystery of Golgotha, so that a revival of the previously hidden Christ consciousness can take place in the souls of human beings on earth.
Since the mystery of Golgotha, many people have been able to proclaim the name of Christ, and from this 20th century onwards there will be a steadily growing number of people who can communicate the knowledge of the Christ being that is given in spiritual science. They will be able to teach and proclaim him from their own experience. Christ has already been crucified twice: once physically in the physical world at the beginning of our age, and a second time spiritually in the 19th century in the manner described. One could say that humanity experienced the resurrection of his body at that time; it will experience the resurrection of his consciousness from the 20th century onwards.
What I have been able to indicate in just a few words will gradually penetrate into the souls of human beings, and the mediator, the messenger, will be Michael, who is now the emissary of Christ. Just as he once guided the souls of human beings so that they could understand the turning of his life from heaven to earth, so now he is preparing humanity to be able to experience the turning of the Christ consciousness from the state of unconsciousness to the state of consciousness. And just as during the time of Christ's earthly life, the greater number of his contemporaries were unable to believe what a mighty event had taken place in the evolution of the earth, so in our time the outer world strives to increase the power of materialism and will continue for a long time to regard what we have discussed today as fantasy, dreamery, perhaps even folly. And so it will also regard this truth about Michael, who is beginning in the present time to reveal Christ anew. Nevertheless, many people will recognize what is now beginning to dawn like the morning light and what will pour into human souls like the sun during the coming centuries, for Michael can always be compared to the sun. And even if many people will not recognize this new Michael revelation, it will nevertheless spread throughout humanity.
This is what can be said today about the relationship between the mystery of Golgotha, which took place at the beginning of our era, and the mystery of Golgotha as it can be understood today. Let us make these feelings our own by recognizing that this is the only way we can become true spiritual scientists. From time to time, other revelations will come, for which we must keep our minds open. Should we not feel that it would be particularly selfish to have these feelings solely for our own satisfaction? Let us rather feel that it is our serious duty, as we have recognized through spiritual science, to make ourselves willing instruments for such revelation. And although we are only a small group within humanity as a whole who are striving to understand this new truth of the mystery of Golgotha, to grasp this new revelation of Michael, we are nevertheless building up a new power that does not depend in the least on our belief in this revelation, but depends solely on this revelation itself, on the truth itself.
Then we will calmly recognize that only a few of us are prepared to explain the following to the world, insofar as it is willing to hear it: From now on, there is a new revelation of Christ. Let us be ready to acknowledge it, let us belong to that small circle that wants to help it grow and become permanent, let us build on the inner strength of such a revelation so that it may spread among the rest of humanity, for this knowledge will gradually be granted to all.
This is what we call wisdom, what some may call folly. To stand firm, we need only remember today that this present time is that of the second Michael revelation, and also what was said by one of the ancient initiates at the time of the first Michael revelation: What often appears to people as folly is wisdom before God.
Let us try today to draw strength for ourselves from such feelings, from such spiritual insight, which in many ways must appear as folly to the outer world. Let us have the courage to recognize that what appears to be foolishness to those who rely only on their senses can be wisdom and light for us and a clearer understanding of the supersensible, spiritual worlds toward which we want to strive with all the strength of our souls and our conviction.