Anthroposophicum

Rudolf Steiner once said something about spiritual attainment that we really should take extra heed of (and forgive me, for so shortly inserting brackets) but I do not know precisely where in the GA landscape he said this, so the sticklers out there shall have to squirm. But it is a piece of encouragement that he gave to the first anthroposophists.

He said that one should be able to develop quite far, that is, even within a number of weeks to a month; and that we really should be able to, through meditation on Occult Science an Outline for example, to inwardly behold many of the things that he spoke there of (that is, to behold those images in spirit, for ourselves, through our own inner work), and to even more succintly (see our very own personal relation to them, to see ourselves in spirit, back in those times):

To see, for example: with which part of humanity we were connected, with which planetary exodus we accompanied others, back in Lemuria before the withdrawal of the moon, and further the sun, in Hyperborea.

Does this sound beyond our abilities to our spiritual ears, to reach such a point in so relatively short a time frame?

Do we hesitate to ask whether we are connected to the planets Mars, Jupiter, or Saturn in our minds, or if we relate more to the younger souls that departed with Venus and Mercury? Or are we like the sun, connected to the sentient soul, able to stay longest on Earth after others have gone?

I don’t claim to have all the answers, but I have observed some things in my life and in the lives of others.

We are all different depending on whether we focus on knowledge, social connections, or creative activities that are deeply rooted in us. This influences the kind of people we are and the people we meet.

(And yet reading of the need to create such inner sight, of hearing of this impulse to full initiation as a true call, to that level of spiritual achievement, where such things take on meaning and relevance, for a true anthroposophical development: all this is often met in our souls with incredulity, with doubt that any such experience may indeed be the case specifically for us).

Until that is, like Steiner did, we do start to encourage each other to indeed work toward such a perspective: that initiation is possible for us, now, in this life, and that this is indeed what Steiner intended: that Anthroposophy should live with this impulse living in the heart.

But we have to fight for this (or better said resolve for this); and so we have to beg to differ to the bourgeois materialist of our souls who would simply wish us to consume Anthroposophy, and say it is only for so called riper others, and for us to bewail our lack of ripeness.

So, we have to redress our impulse for initiation, that through our own application of anthroposophical insights, to our own meditative life, and into our own lives, we can grow forthrightly, assertively, and with courage. We have to take hold of our own authority like this. And we have to feel the fire in this.

Some call this a thunder and lightning path of initiation, because we do in fact evoke a storm of transformation into our lives. It can feel awe inspiring, as much as perilous. No-one likes getting drenched in rain; the cat in us shrinks under the sofa in terror; the mesmerist in us gets dazzled with the lightning strike.

And yet, when we look into contemporary reality with all its digital complexity, this wish for an ability to embody new powers of spirit in our soul, is a very pressing need. We somehow know that only something drastic like this has to be set in motion for us to keep our head above water. We intuit, in longing and distress, that we and humanity need something very new.

This very new thing does require a battle. It is a stage of the path when the battle for the soul comes, and it cannot be avoided. The battle for the leadership and loyalty of your soul. It is a confrontation largely hidden from the world, and one surely too that this world shall thoroughly condemn and no less ignores should we dare to seek to bring it forward and into life. Silence and the longing for a sign are hard tests to endure.

On the spiritual path, many of our old predilections and character traits shall fall away. And this is a scary thing. No school or upbringing really prepares you for this. We know this so starkly through the challenges we have seen in the last years – mirroring in our own lives and karma – suffering that we see around us in the world, and others, bring us to truly need Anthroposophy. And yet it is a precondition of our times that we are thoroughly unprepared for the shattering experiences of the spiritual path.

We have to therefore bring together three things – recognition of the spiritual, enthusiasm for anthroposophy in our lives, and in this process, we can then learn (in an apocalyptic sense) to put on new white garments.

So, with this Anthroposophicum initiative, our goal is to learn how to create ourselves both individually and as a community, as a gift. It’s a gift because when we dedicate our time to this and really understand why this is important, it becomes a meaningful act for humanity and our future.

In a world of artificial intelligence and large language systems, the creative human voice faces significant challenges. These forces may create a way of thinking that contrasts with what we wish to nurture and develop.

Through Anthroposophy, rather than opposing this artificial intelligence, we see it as a vocation to intensify our souls to be able to spiritually work in and through these times, to transform them by becoming ever more aware of our creative drive for a Michaelic intelligence through our speech and language.

It is an ages old Parzival question, but it is a good starting point to invert any negativity or feeling of despondency upon reading such things, to ask perhaps with a wider view, perhaps closer to home, dear brother or sister, what ails thee?

Because this question really is, so too, to ask, what is it that has wounded you in your life that you have carried up until now?

Go into that image, see it, in all its twisted ugliness of the thing you have reject and have neglected in yourself, as that thing you have turned from and find in that very thing something of beauty awaiting you. Is it pessimism, is it demotivation, is it pride or fear of others, or of the spirit itself, or is it fear of what you yourself have become?

Whatever it is, these are times not to any more turn away from ourselves, but to go into that darkest place …

So perhaps more pertinent now for us to ask, in these less than valiant times is – How might this deep inner wound we carry come to be our very greatest treasure?

I mean specifically, not vaguely or misty-eyed. So this text is a call for initiative, from me, as much as it is a call from others. For it is social. It is a call for us to work to hold a torch and a beacon high. For those in need. Those who might see it and say yes, this speaks to me, I do indeed need to turn, to find the force to overcome myself, to find new truth.

But far more poignantly, all this leads us to something that comes from collaborative work. For anthroposophical study and work together breeds a spiritual influx into life through work inspired by others.

For study is no mere practice of utility. It is rather for us to ask, what is my very vulnerability, my very lost child of my soul, shaking and alone, in the cold, hiding from me, and holding for me for a time when I am ready?

My argument here is that this time for many is here, that we can advocate for spiritual attainment like this to others, to ourselves, like a spirit remembrance, of why we are here, and that we can truly undertake spiritual initiation when we remind each other of just what is possible.

So this is what we mean when we say recognition, resonance and gift. We mean all three activities are set in motion through social interaction.

In my eyes, this is to state something of the chalice nature of community work, that the individual is inextricably linked to others, and that as much as meditative practice, the moral purpose of collaborative spiritual work and spiritual attainment has to be a warm rejuvenation of all that once was dead.