The Christian Mystery
GA 97
30 March 1906, Düsseldorf
XV. Lucifer, Bearer of light—The Christ, Bringer of Love
The religious beliefs and world views of different peoples show awareness of two opposing powers. We also find this in Christianity. This has a little bit to do with the question we want to consider in detail today.
There are indeed powers that cannot be said to be absolutely good nor absolutely evil. Something which in some respect is a good power, may become an evil power in another respect. We only have to think of fire, a natural phenomenon. We owe infinitely much to fire. The discovery of fire started a new epoch in nature and civilization. But it also has terrible effects. Schiller described this beautifully in a long poem about the casting of a bell, speaking of the great benefits fire offers if tamed and guarded by man and the terror it can unleash if unfettered. On the one hand fire is a beneficent power, on the other it brings destruction.
Anyone able to see more deeply into existence will get out of the habit of judging something to be absolutely good or evil. In Christianity the serpent is called the tempter of humanity, and Lucifer's name is uttered with loathing. The view of the luciferic principle has changed, however, though Goethe was right when he said the average Christian's way of expressing his views was to say that nature and spirit are not fit subjects for Christians. It's dangerous talk, something for which atheists go to the stake. Nature is sin, spirit the devil. Between them they cherish doubt, their misshapen hermaphrodite offspring.129Faust 2: 4897-4902
This is not the view held in early Christianity but something that came later. For Christian mystics of the first centuries, for the gnostics, the serpent was not in fact a symbol of evil but a symbol for the spiritual guidance of humanity. The wise individual who was the guide was known as ‘the serpent’. That was the name given to someone who guided humanity to insight. The serpent is the symbol of Lucifer.
The changes in the way Lucifer was seen can be followed by studying the changes in the Faust legend. Faust was a medieval figure, half mountebank, half black magician. He used all kinds of arts, but gradually became a distinct type in people's minds. The Faust legend is the direct opposite of the Luther legend, with Luther the man of god who stands up to face evil, Bible in hand, throwing his inkwell at the devil's head. Faust on the other hand put the Bible aside initially and became a medical man who was looking for wisdom rather than mere belief in revelation. Faust was taken by the devil and he perished. The great thing is that in Goethe's work Faust is saved. That is the complete transformation which has come in the views of Faust in recent centuries. Goethe placed the luciferic principle in opposition to Faust in the figure of Mephistopheles. Mephis means liar, tophel spoiler, a Hebrew name that has come down from ancient magic doctrines. Faust is the white magician compared to Mephistopheles who represents the beginnings of black magic. Goethe did not let Faust fall into the clutches of Mephistopheles.
The name Lucifer means ‘bearer of light’. Lux is light, fero, I bear. This cannot be the principle of evil. To really understand this principle we must go back to very early times. To understand the principle of Lucifer we have to think the god principle and the man principle the way they were thought of in early Christianity. When man began to develop, spirits existed who were lower than man and others who were higher than man. The latter were the gods. They also had to go through a long period of evolution to be such. These sublime spirits no longer need to receive the teachings which man has to receive. The idea is that earthly existence was preceded by another planetary existence and there the gods developed who later became creative powers. The gods are ahead of us. They have completed their studies at the school which man is now attending. At a particular point, when they were at the beginning of their evolution, the gods, too, were still human beings.
We have to consider how the different levels of existence relate to one another. Let us begin with the mineral, plant and animals worlds.
When we look at the mineral world we have to ask ourselves how it actually arose. This question takes us to a profound occult truth. Look at a piece of coal. It is a stone today. A few million years earlier in earth evolution the material we use to heat our stoves today was still part of a beautiful forest of ferns. A catastrophe on earth buried those trees and they then went through a process that gradually changed them into coal. We can state that coal is a life form that has grown lifeless. Among the rocks you find elements where one cannot establish this so easily—diamonds, for instance, and rock crystal. These, too, were once part of life forms. If we were to go further back in time we would find plants that later fossilized to become these minerals. Everything dead has come from one and the same life. If all life were to be fossilized one day, the earth would be a rigid body. Our present-day plants are something life has saved and preserved from an earlier general life. Part has become fossilized, but life has saved another part. The ancient fern forests have become fossilized, a new realm came into being, with new life arising from it. There was first a time when there was nothing but life. Then came a new time when part was fossilized and a younger plant world arose. The mineral world does not show itself to be chaotic but beautifully organized. Wisdom lay in this. The whole skeletal structure of the earth was organized in great wisdom. The plant world took life onward.
We are however able to see life itself coming from a realm that was yet higher, so that everything that lives has come from a realm that was even higher, and that is the realm of love. There must have been a spirit originally that had love within it. The realm of life differentiated out from this, and from the realm of life the realm of wisdom. Furthermore, the more recent realm of love also differentiated out from that realm of love. Here the creatures were at the animal level, but love did already show itself. We now come to something even higher. The divine principle is above all those realms. All other realms differentiated out from the divine principle. Now we see that at the beginning of planetary evolution man and god were face to face, just as in the natural worlds mineral and plant were face to face.
In earlier times a plant world existed that had no need of the mineral world. But the more recent plant world needs the mineral world. In the same way the gods needed human beings in the beginning of earth evolution. Without human beings, the gods could no more have thrived than plants would without stones. Now consider the animal and plant worlds. A specific relationship exists between the two. The animal exhales carbon dioxide, the plant oxygen. They are dependent on one another. The lower world, the plant world, shows wonderful love in giving back to the animals what they need. Plants keep the carbon for themselves and return the oxygen. So there is a wonderful continuous toing and froing between the lower and higher worlds. Such interaction also exists between the plant and mineral worlds. Plants are continually taking earth's substances from the mineral world, taking them up into a vital process. This is how the higher world influences the lower one. And that is also how the world of the gods influenced the human world in the beginning of earth evolution. Initially their interaction was like that between plant and mineral and between animal and plant.
The interaction between gods and human beings initially came to expression in what we call love among human beings. When man first appeared on earth, two sexes developed. This power of love, of kinship, was the divine principle coming to expression in the beginning of earth evolution. The gods received the love pulsating in human beings and lived on it, just as an animal lives on the oxygen which the plant prepares for it. The love living in the human race was food for the gods. Initially everything built on this love. Blood kinship formed a bond among human beings. Tribes, hordes, nations and so on were based on it. This love, entwined around the two sexes, is the foundation for all the power the gods had in the beginning of human evolution. Love was there first, before the two sexes evolved. Originally it was a love existing in full conscious awareness. Then, when bisexual man evolved, awareness became obscured. Love became a blind drive, sensuality, no longer filled with limpid clarity but only coming into play as a dark drive. Awareness of love had ascended to the gods. The gods were then enthroned above, in conscious awareness of love, whilst human beings exercised love in a blindly driven way. The gods fed on this blind drive, it became clear light for them.
There is a way of clairvoyance where everything that lives in man by way of blind drives becomes visible. The gods had this vision in the beginning of human evolution, whilst human beings did not have the gift for it. They were filled with passions, with the element that drives the sexes to unite. The gods lived in astral light. They saw those drives, they lived on them. Just as the earlier plant world remained behind in earlier times, rejecting the mineral world, so did an old world of the gods become a new one, with humanity assuming its present condition. For there were also spirits who did not gain full conscious awareness in the astral light. They were between gods and humans when humanity began its existence on this earth. We call these spirits the shadows of Lucifer. Under the influence of the gods who had gained perfection in their earlier evolution, man would have continued without having the astral light, without knowledge. The interest of those gods did not go beyond having human beings living on earth. Lucifer had to catch up on what he had failed to do earlier, however. And he could only do it at this stage by also making use of human nature. Human beings existed in the senses. Lucifer did not exist in the senses. He had to use human bodies for his own progress. He therefore had to give human beings the ability to see what the gods had implanted in them, to see it in the light. The gods had implanted love in them, Lucifer had to induce them to see this love in the light. So we now have the human being, the created form, the wisdom; also Lucifer who gave light to humanity; and the god who let love flow in human beings.
Man - wisdom
Lucifer - light
God - love
Lucifer had a much more intimate relationship to human beings than the gods enthroned in love. Lucifer opened man's eyes. When man opened his eyes and looked out into the world, Lucifer was inside him, looking out into the world. He completed his evolution in man. In so far as man rested in the keeping of the gods he was a child of god. In so far as he sought knowledge, he was Lucifer's friend. This comes to expression in the story of paradise. Jehovah created man. He is the spirit of form. He would have made human beings such that they lived in love but without light. Then came Lucifer, the serpent, and brought the light of knowledge to humanity and thus also the potential for evil doing. Jehovah then told man that love which has united with the knowledge given by Lucifer would bring pain. Jehovah set limits to the activities of the spirit who had implanted knowledge, the light of love, by adding pain to love.130Concerning Jehovah, Lucifer and Cain, see also Steiner R. The Temple Legend (GA 93). 20 lectures, Berlin 23 May 1904 - 2 Jan. 1906. Tr. J. Wood. London: Rudolf Steiner Press 1985.
In Cain we see someone who rebelled against anything created out of blood-bound love. He cut the bonds of kinship. He also stood for independence. Passive love combined with active, light-filled work to gain knowledge. Love—gift of Jehovah, knowledge—gift of Lucifer. Love needs to be regulated. The law of Sinai ordered family bonds. In addition to this there is the gaining of knowledge, the light that must come from human beings themselves, its origin being in the light bearer within man. This, too, must be deepened, going through a new phase. This can only happen if there is more than just the law applied from outside. The law brought compulsion to bear from outside. The Christ brought the principle that works from inside. It is the light taken up into love, the law born in the soul itself which Paul called grace. The law, born again out of the inmost nature, was both love and light. It set the beginning for a new evolution on earth. Paul called Christ the inverse Adam.
Man had the god of love above him, and Lucifer, the light, within him. To reach love one must first be light. With the coming of the Christ, this light was transformed into love. Christ Jesus represents the raising of light to love.
In the past, people spoke of Lucifer as the other pole, the one that brought light to humanity. Two powers must be active on earth-Christ, the bearer of love, and Lucifer, the bearer of light. For man, light and love are the two poles. Man now lives under the influence of these two polar opposite powers. The gods, who gave the impulse for love, were light once; the light is meant to be love again. The light can be misused and lead to evil, but it must be there if human beings are to be free.
The early Christians saw Lucifer as something that must certainly be active in human nature. This view only changed later. It is necessary to go through the torment of doubt in order to be firm in our knowledge. In its early days, Christian humanity still had to be protected from the light. But now the time has come where the union between love and wisdom must again be created. This happens if knowledge is born as wisdom in human hearts through love. This knowledge, born in human hearts as wisdom and elevated into love—that is the science of the spirit.
In antiquity, people had the law. Through the Christ, the law has become grace, with the law lifted up out of the individual's own breast. Now knowledge is to be elevated to be love again. Inner Christianity is to be added to the external organization of Christianity. Until now, Christianity has only been able to bring love to realization in its institutions. But now we must take love down into the deepest depths of the human breast. Today each is still enamoured of his own opinions. Love will only rise above opinion when people are able to live in harmony even if their opinions differ greatly. All kinds of different opinions side by side—and above it all, love. Then the individual opinion does not reign on its own but all will unite in a great choir.
Luzifer und Christus Luzifer, der Träger des Lichtes Christus, der Bringer der Liebe
Bei den verschiedenen Völkern ist in ihren Religionsbekenntnissen und Weltanschauungen ein Bewußtsein von zwei einander entgegenstrebenden Mächten vorhanden. Auch im Christentum finden wir dies. Das hängt ein wenig mit der Frage zusammen, die uns heute eingehend beschäftigen soll.
Tatsächlich gibt es Mächte, die weder als absolut gut noch als absolut böse bezeichnet werden können. Was in einer gewissen Beziehung eine gute Macht ist, kann in anderer Beziehung eine böse Macht werden. Wir brauchen da nur an die Naturerscheinung des Feuers zu denken. Dem Feuer verdanken wir Unendliches. Mit der Erfindung des Feuers begann in der Natur und der Kultur eine neue Epoche. Aber auch schlimme Wirkungen hängen damit zusammen. Schön hat dies Schiller in dem «Lied von der Glocke» geschildert:
Wohltätig ist des Feuers Macht,
Wenn sie der Mensch bezähmt, bewacht,
Und was er bildet, was er schafft,
Das dankt er dieser Himmelskraft,
Doch furchtbar wird die Himmelskraft,
Wenn sie der Fessel sich entrafft,
Einhertritt auf der eignen Spur,
Die freie Tochter der Natur.
Auf der einen Seite ist das Feuer die wohltätige Macht, auf der andern Seite die verderbenbringende.
Wer tiefer hineinsieht in das Dasein, wird sich das Urteil abgewöhnen, daß etwas unter allen Umständen gut oder böse ist. Im Christentum wird die Schlange als Verführerin der Menschheit bezeichnet und Luzifer mit Abscheu genannt. Die Anschauung über das luziferische Prinzip hat sich allerdings geändert, aber Goethe hat doch recht, wenn er die Weltanschauung des Durchschnitts der Menschen im Christentum so schildert:
Natur und Geist - so spricht man nicht zu Christen.
Deshalb verbrennt man Atheisten,
Weil solche Reden höchst gefährlich sind.
Natur ist Sünde, Geist ist Teufel,
Sie hegen zwischen sich den Zweifel,
Ihr mißgestaltet Zwitterkind.
Dies ist keine Anschauung des ursprünglichen Christentums, sondern später erst in das Christentum hineingekommen. Auch bei den christlichen Mystikern der ersten Jahrhunderte, bei den Gnostikern ist die Schlange nicht ein Symbol für das Böse, sondern sogar ein Symbol für die geistige Führung der Menschheit. Der Weise, der Führer heißt «die Schlange». So wurde derjenige bezeichnet, welcher die Menschheit zur Erkenntnis führt. Die Schlange ist das Symbol des Luzifer.
An der Änderung der Faust-Sage kann man die Wandlung in der Auffassung des luziferischen Prinzips verfolgen. Faust war eine Gestalt des Mittelalters, halb Gaukler, halb schwarzer Magier, der allerlei Künste getrieben hat, aber allmählich für das Volk ein Typus geworden ist. Die Faust-Sage steht genau im Gegensatz zur LutherSage. Luther ist der Mann Gottes, der mit der Bibel in der Hand dem Bösen widersteht und ihm das Tintenfaß an den Kopf wirft. Faust dagegen legt die Bibel zunächst beiseite und wird ein Mediziner, der nach Weisheit sucht anstelle des bloßen Offenbarungsglaubens. Faust wird vom Teufel geholt und geht zugrunde. Bei Goethe ist es das Große, daß er den Faust gerettet werden läßt. Das ist eine völlige Wandlung, die sich in bezug auf die Auffassung der FaustGestalt in den letzten Jahrhunderten vollzogen hat. Goethe hat das luziferische Prinzip dem Faust in Gestalt des Mephistopheles gegenübergestellt. Mephis bedeutet Lügner, Tophel Verderber, ein hebräischer Name, herübergekommen aus alten magischen Lehren. Faust ist der weiße Magier im Gegensatz zu Mephistopheles, der den Anfang der schwarzen Magie darstellt. Goethe läßt den Faust nicht dem Mephistopheles verfallen.
Der Name Luzifer bedeutet: der Träger des Lichts. Lux heißt Licht, fero: ich trage. Das kann nicht das Prinzip des Bösen sein. Um dieses Prinzip wirklich zu verstehen, müssen wir uns zurückbegeben in sehr alte Zeiten. Will man das Prinzip des Luzifer verstehen, dann muß man das Gottesprinzip und das Menschenprinzip so denken, wie sie noch in der ersten Zeit des Christentums vorgestellt worden sind. Als der Mensch seine Heranbildung begann, gab es Wesen, die tiefer standen als der Mensch, und solche, die höher standen. Diese waren die Götter. Sie sind das auch erst nach einer langen Entwickelung geworden. Diese hohen Wesen haben nun nicht mehr nötig, dieselben Lehren aufzunehmen, die der Mensch aufzunehmen hat. Wir stellen uns vor, daß dem irdischen Dasein ein anderes planetarisches Dasein vorangegangen ist, daß sich dort die Götter entwickelten, die später schöpferische Mächte wurden. Die Götter sind uns voraus. Sie haben sozusagen schon die Schule absolviert, die der Mensch jetzt durchmacht. Auf einer gewissen Stufe, als sie am Anfang der Evolution standen, waren auch die Götter noch Menschen.
Man muß ins Auge fassen, wie sich überhaupt die verschiedenen Stufen des Daseins zueinander verhalten. Beginnen wir mit dem Mineralreich, dem Pflanzen- und dem Tierreich.
Wenn wir das Mineralische anschauen, müssen wir uns fragen: Wie ist das eigentlich entstanden? Diese Frage führt auf eine tiefe okkulte Wahrheit. Man blicke die Steinkohle an. Sie ist heute Stein. Einige Millionen Jahre zurück in der Erdenevolution war das, womit wir heute unsere Öfen heizen, noch in einem schönen Farnwalde enthalten. Durch eine Erdkatastrophe wurden die Bäume verschüttet und machten dann den Prozeß durch, der sie nach und nach in Kohle verwandelte. Man kann bei der Steinkohle konstatieren, daß aus Lebendem Lebloses entstanden ist. Im Gesteinsreich gibt es Bestandteile, bei denen man das nicht so leicht feststellen kann, zum Beispiel den Diamanten und den Bergkristall. Auch diese gehörten einmal einem Lebensträger an. Wenn man weiter zurückginge, würde man ebenfalls Pflanzen finden, die später zu diesen andern Mineralien versteinert sind. Alles Tote ist aus einem einzigen Leben hervorgegangen. Würde alles Leben einmal versteinert werden, so würde die Erde ein starrer Körper. Unsere heutigen Pflanzen sind etwas, was das Leben herübergerettet hat aus einem früheren allgemeinen Leben. Ein Teil ist versteinert, aber ein Teil hat das Leben herübergerettet. Die alten Farnwälder versteinern, ein neues Reich entsteht, daraus tritt neues Leben hervor. Eine alte Zeit war zuerst da, in der es nur Leben gab, dann eine neue Zeit, in der ein Teil versteinerte und daneben ein jüngeres Pflanzenreich entstand. Das Gesteinsreich tritt uns nicht chaotisch entgegen, sondern schön gegliedert. Es ist Weisheit darin. Das ganze Gerüst der Erde ist in Weisheit aufgebaut. Das Pflanzenreich hat das Leben hinübergenommen. Wir können aber das Leben selbst aus einem noch höheren Reiche ableiten. Wir können uns vorstellen, daß alles Lebendige aus einem noch höheren Reich hervorgegangen ist. Das ist das Reich der Liebe. Ein Urwesen muß dagewesen sein, das die Liebe in sich barg. Aus ihm gliederte sich ab das Reich des Lebens, und vom Reich des Lebens das Reich der Weisheit. Von dem Reich der Liebe gliederte sich außerdem das jüngere Reich der Liebe ab, in dem die Wesen auf der Tierstufe stehen, in dem aber die Liebe schon zum Ausdruck kommt. Nun kommen wir zu etwas noch Höherem hinauf. Das Göttliche steht über all diesen Reichen. Aus dem Göttlichen haben sich die andern Reiche herausgebildet. Jetzt begreift man, wie im Anfang der planetarischen Evolution Mensch und Gott sich gegenüberstanden, so wie sich in den Naturreichen im Anfang Mineral und Pflanze gegenüberstanden.
Früher gab es ein Pflanzenreich, welches das Gesteinsreich nicht brauchte. Aber das jüngere Pflanzenreich braucht das Gesteinsreich. So brauchten auch die Götter am Anfang der Erdenevolution die Menschen. Ohne die Menschen hätten die Götter beim Anfang der Erdenevolution ebensowenig gedeihen können wie die Pflanzen ohne die Steine. Man betrachte nun das Tier- und das Pflanzenreich. Es besteht eine ganz bestimmte Beziehung zwischen beiden Reichen. Das Tier atmet Kohlensäure aus, die Pflanze Sauerstoff. Sie sind voneinander abhängig. Das niedere Pflanzenreich gibt in schöner Liebe das dem Tier zurück, was es braucht. Die Pflanze behält den Kohlenstoff für sich und gibt den Sauerstoff wieder zurück. So besteht fortwährend die wunderbare Wechselwirkung zwischen den niederen und den höheren Reichen. Eine solche Wechselwirkung besteht auch zwischen dem Pflanzen- und dem Mineralreich. Die Pflanze zieht fortwährend die Stoffe der Erde aus dem Mineralreich heraus und versetzt dadurch diese Stoffe in einen Lebensprozeß. So wirkt das höhere Reich auf das niedere Reich. Und so wirkte im Anfang der Erdenevolution auch das Reich der Götter auf das Menschenreich. Anfangs war da eine Wechselwirkung wie zwischen Pflanze und Mineral und zwischen Tier und Pflanze. Die Wechselwirkung zwischen Göttern und Menschen kam anfangs in dem zum Ausdruck, was wir Liebe der Menschen untereinander nennen. Als der Mensch anfangs auf der Erde auftrat, wurde er ein zweigeschlechtliches Wesen. Diese Kraft der Liebe, der Verwandtschaft untereinander, das ist das, wodurch das Göttliche sich im Anfang der Erdenevolution ausdrückt. Die Götter empfangen die in den Menschen pulsierende Liebe und leben von ihr, so wie das Tier von dem Sauerstoff lebt, den ihm die Pflanze zubereitet. Die im Menschengeschlecht lebende Liebe ist die Nahrung der Götter. Anfangs ist alles auf diese Liebe gebaut. Blutsverwandtschaft verbindet die Menschen. Stämme, Horden, Völkerschaften und so weiter gründen sich darauf. Auf dieser Liebe, die sich um die zwei Geschlechter schlingt, beruht alle Macht der Götter im Anfang der Menschheitsevolution. Die Liebe war vorher da, bevor die Zweigeschlechtlichkeit entstand. Sie bestand vorher als eine vollstandig bewußte Liebe. Jetzt, als der zweigeschlechtliche Mensch entstand, verdunkelte sich das Bewußtsein der Liebe. Es wurde daraus ein blinder Trieb, die Sinnlichkeit, die nicht erfüllt ist von heller Klarheit, sondern die sich nur als dunkler Trieb auslebt. Das Bewußtsein der Liebe war hinaufgestiegen zu den Göttern. Die Götter thronten nun oben im Bewußtsein der Liebe, die Menschen aber übten die Liebe in einem blinden Trieb. Die Götter nähren sich von diesem blinden Trieb der menschlichen Liebe, es wird daraus für sie das helle Licht. Es gibt eine Möglichkeit des Hellsehens, wo alles sichtbar wird, was in dem Menschen als blinde Triebe lebt. Die Götter haben dieses Sehen im Anfang der Menschheitsevolution gehabt, die Menschen aber waren bar dieser Anlage. Sie wurden erfüllt von Leidenschaften, sie wurden durchflutet von dem, was die Geschlechter zueinander treibt. Die Götter lebten im astralen Licht. Sie sahen diese Triebe, sie lebten davon.
Wie früher das jüngere Pflanzenreich zurückblieb und das Mineralreich zurückgestoßen hat, so ist aus einem alten Götterreich ein neues Götterreich und die Menschheit in ihrer jetzigen Verfassung entstanden. Es gibt nämlich auch solche Wesen, die nicht das volle Bewußtsein im astralen Licht erlangt hatten. Sie standen zwischen Göttern und Menschen mitten darin, als die Menschheit ihr Dasein auf der Erde begann. Diese Wesenheiten nennen wir die Scharen des Luzifer. Unter dem Einfluß der Götter, die durch ihre frühere Evolution ihre Vollendung erlangt hatten, wäre der Mensch ohne das Astrallicht geblieben, ohne Erkenntnis. Diese Götter hatten kein anderes Interesse, als daß der Mensch auf der Erde lebt. Luzifer aber mußte das nachholen, was er früher versäumt hatte. Das konnte er jetzt nur, wenn er sich des Menschenwesens mit dazu bediente. Das sinnliche Dasein war im Menschenreich vorhanden. Luzifer hatte kein sinnliches Dasein. Er mußte die Leiber der Menschen benutzen, um sich selbst vorwärtszubringen. Daher mußte er dem Menschen die Gabe verleihen, das im Lichte zu schauen, was die Götter ihm eingepflanzt hatten. Die Götter hatten ihm die Liebe eingepflanzt, Luzifer mußte ihn verleiten, diese im Lichte zu schauen. Nun haben wir also den Menschen, die gestaltete Form, die Weisheit; ferner Luzifer, der der Menschheit Licht gibt; und den Gott, der den Menschen durchströmt mit Liebe.
Mensch - Weisheit
Luzifer — Licht
Gott -— Liebe
Luzifer steht zu dem Menschen in einem viel intimeren Verhältnis als die in Liebe thronenden Götter. Luzifer hat dem Menschen die Augen geöffnet. Indem der Mensch die Augen Öffnet und hinausschaut in die Welt, schaut Luzifer innerhalb des Menschen in die Welt hinaus. Er vollendet im Menschen seine Entwickelung. Sofern der Mensch im Schoß der Götter ruhte, war er ein Kind Gottes. Sofern er nach Erkenntnis strebte, war er ein Freund Luzifers. Das kommt in der Paradiesessage zum Ausdruck. Jehova gestaltet den Menschen. Er ist der Geist der Form. Er würde die Menschen so geschaffen haben, daß sie in Liebe lebten, ohne das Licht. Da kam Luzifer, die Schlange, und brachte dem Menschen das Licht der Erkenntnis und damit auch die Eventualität, das Böse zu tun. Jetzt sagt Jehova dem Menschen, daß die Liebe, die sich .mit der Erkenntnis des Luzifer verbunden hat, Schmerzen bringen werde. Die Taten dessen, der die Erkenntnis eingepflanzt hat, das Licht der Liebe, dammt Jehova dadurch ein, daß er zu der Liebe die Schmerzen hinzugibt.
In Kain sehen wir den, der sich auflehnt gegen das, was durch die blutsgebundene Liebe geschaffen ist. Er durchschneidet die Verwandtschaftsbande. Er ist aber auch der Repräsentant der Selbständigkeit. Neben der passiven Liebe die aktive, lichte Erkenntnisarbeit. Die Liebe — eine Jehovagabe, die Erkenntnis - eine Gabe Luzifers. Die Liebe muß geregelt werden. Die Organisation für die Familienbande ist das Gesetz von Sinai. Daneben steht die Erkenntnis, das Licht, das aus den Menschen selbst kommen soll, das den in ihm waltenden Lichtträger zum Ursprung hat. Auch das muß vertieft werden, es muß eine neue Phase erleben. Das kann nur dadurch geschehen, daß nicht bloß das Gesetz von außen her waltet. Das Gesetz wirkte von außen als ein Zwangsgesetz. Das, was Christus der Erde brachte, wirkt von innen. Es ist das zur Liebe heraufgeholte Licht, das Gesetz, das in der Seele selbst geboren wird, das Paulus die Gnade nennt. Das Gesetz, das aus der innersten Natur heraus wiedergeboren war, das war zugleich Liebe und Licht, und das hat den Anfang gegeben zu einer neuen Evolution auf der Erde. Paulus nennt den Christus den umgekehrten Adam.
Beim Menschen wirkte über ihm der Gott der Liebe, in ihm selbst der Luzifer, das Licht. Um zur Liebe zu gelangen, muß man erst Licht werden. Durch das Erscheinen des Christus Jesus ist dieses Licht zur Liebe verwandelt worden. Christus Jesus stellt die Hinaufhebung des Lichts zur Liebe dar.
Man sprach früher von Luzifer als dem andern Pol, welcher der Menschheit Licht gebracht hat. Zwei Mächte müssen auf der Erde wirken: der Liebesträger Christus, der Lichtträger Luzifer. Für den Menschen sind Licht und Liebe die zwei Pole. Unter der Einwirkung dieser beiden polarisch auftretenden Kräfte lebt jetzt der Mensch. Die Götter, welche die Liebe impulsiert haben, waren einstmals Licht, das Licht ist berufen, wiederum Liebe zu werden. Das Licht kann mißbraucht werden und zum Bösen führen, aber es muß da sein, wenn der Mensch frei werden soll.
Die ersten Christen sahen in Luzifer etwas, was durchaus in der Menschennatur wirken sollte. Erst später änderte man die Anschauung darüber. Nur wer die Qualen des Zweifels durchgemacht hat, kann sich in der Erkenntnis befestigen. Die junge christliche Menschheit mußte noch vor dem Lichte behütet werden. Aber heute ist die Zeit gekommen, wo der Bund zwischen Liebe und Weisheit neuerdings geschlossen werden soll. Er wird geschlossen, wenn das Wissen als Weisheit im Menschenherzen geboren wird durch die Liebe. Dieses Wissen, welches als Weisheit im Menschenherzen geboren wird, indem es zur Liebe heraufgehoben wird, das ist die Geisteswissenschaft.
Im Altertum ist das Gesetz da. Das Gesetz ist durch Christus zur Gnade geworden, indem das Gesetz aus der eigenen Menschenbrust herausgehoben wird. Nun soll das Wissen wieder zur Liebe heraufgehoben werden. Zu der äußeren Organisation des Christentums soll das innere Christentum hinzugefügt werden. Bisher hat das Christentum die Liebe nur in seinen Einrichtungen verwirklichen können. Aber jetzt müssen wir die Liebe bis in die tiefsten Tiefen der Menschenbrust tragen. Jetzt hat jeder noch die Eigenliebe für seine Meinung. Die Liebe steht erst über der Meinung, wenn man sich trotz der verschiedensten Meinungen vertragen kann. Die verschiedensten Meinungen nebeneinander — und darüber die Liebe. Dann wirkt die einzelne Meinung nicht allein, sondern alle zusammen wirken in einem großen Chor.
Lucifer and Christ Lucifer, the bearer of light Christ, the Bringer of Love
Among different peoples, there is an awareness of two opposing forces in their religious beliefs and worldviews. We also find this in Christianity. This is somewhat related to the question that we will be dealing with in depth today.
In fact, there are powers that can be described as neither absolutely good nor absolutely evil. What is a good power in one respect can become an evil power in another. We need only think of the natural phenomenon of fire. We owe an infinite amount to fire. The invention of fire marked the beginning of a new era in nature and culture. But it also has terrible consequences. Schiller described this beautifully in his “Song of the Bell”:
The power of fire is beneficial,
When man tames it, guards it,
And what he forms, what he creates,
He thanks this heavenly power for,
But terrible becomes the heavenly power,
When it breaks free from its chains,
And follows its own path,
The free daughter of nature.
On the one hand, fire is a benevolent power, on the other, a destructive one.
Those who look deeper into existence will abandon the judgment that something is good or evil under all circumstances. In Christianity, the serpent is described as the seducer of mankind and Lucifer is spoken of with abhorrence. The view of the Luciferic principle has changed, but Goethe is right when he describes the worldview of the average Christian as follows:
Nature and spirit—that's not how you talk to Christians.
Nature is sin, spirit is the devil, They harbor doubt between them, Their deformed hermaphrodite child.
That's why atheists are burned,
Because such talk is highly dangerous.
This is not a view of early Christianity, but one that entered Christianity later. Even among the Christian mystics of the first centuries, among the Gnostics, the serpent is not a symbol of evil, but rather a symbol of the spiritual guidance of humanity. The wise man, the leader, is called “the serpent.” This is how the one who leads humanity to knowledge was referred to. The serpent is the symbol of Lucifer.
The change in the Faust legend reflects the transformation in the understanding of the Luciferian principle. Faust was a figure of the Middle Ages, half juggler, half black magician, who practiced all kinds of arts, but gradually became a type for the people. The Faust legend stands in stark contrast to the Luther legend. Luther is the man of God who, with the Bible in his hand, resists evil and throws his inkwell at its head. Faust, on the other hand, initially puts the Bible aside and becomes a physician who seeks wisdom instead of mere revelation. Faust is taken by the devil and perishes. In Goethe's work, it is significant that he allows Faust to be saved. This is a complete transformation that has taken place in relation to the conception of the Faust figure over the last few centuries. Goethe contrasted the Luciferian principle with Faust in the form of Mephistopheles. Mephis means liar, Tophel means corrupter, a Hebrew name that has come down from ancient magical teachings. Faust is the white magician, in contrast to Mephistopheles, who represents the beginning of black magic. Goethe does not allow Faust to fall prey to Mephistopheles.
The name Lucifer means “the bearer of light.” Lux means light, fero means I carry. This cannot be the principle of evil. To truly understand this principle, we must go back to very ancient times. If we want to understand the principle of Lucifer, we must think of the principle of God and the principle of man as they were still conceived in the early days of Christianity. When man began his development, there were beings who stood lower than man and those who stood higher. These were the gods. They only became gods after a long period of development. These higher beings no longer need to learn the same lessons that humans have to learn. We imagine that earthly existence was preceded by another planetary existence, where the gods developed and later became creative powers. The gods are ahead of us. They have, so to speak, already completed the schooling that human beings are now going through. At a certain stage, when they were at the beginning of evolution, the gods were also human beings.
One must consider how the different stages of existence relate to each other. Let us begin with the mineral kingdom, the plant kingdom, and the animal kingdom.
When we look at minerals, we must ask ourselves: How did they actually come into being? This question leads to a profound occult truth. Consider coal. Today it is stone. Several million years ago in the evolution of the earth, what we now use to heat our stoves was still contained in a beautiful fern forest. An earthly catastrophe buried the trees, and they then underwent a process that gradually transformed them into coal. In the case of coal, we can see that something living has been transformed into something lifeless. In the mineral kingdom, there are components where this is not so easy to determine, for example, diamonds and rock crystal. These, too, once belonged to a living being. If one went further back, one would also find plants that later fossilized into these other minerals. Everything dead originated from a single life. If all life were to fossilize, the earth would become a rigid body. Our plants today are something that life has carried over from an earlier general life. Part of it has fossilized, but part of it has carried life over. The ancient fern forests fossilize, a new kingdom emerges, and new life emerges from it. First there was an ancient time when there was only life, then a new time when part of it fossilized and a younger plant kingdom emerged alongside it. The rock kingdom does not appear chaotic to us, but beautifully structured. There is wisdom in it. The entire framework of the earth is built on wisdom. The plant kingdom has taken over life. But we can derive life itself from an even higher kingdom. We can imagine that all living things originated from an even higher kingdom. That is the kingdom of love. There must have been a primordial being that contained love within itself. From it, the kingdom of life was structured, and from the kingdom of life, the kingdom of wisdom. From the realm of love, the younger realm of love also emerged, in which beings are at the animal level, but in which love is already expressed. Now we come to something even higher. The divine stands above all these realms. The other realms have developed from the divine. Now we understand how, at the beginning of planetary evolution, man and God stood opposite each other, just as minerals and plants stood opposite each other in the natural kingdoms at the beginning.
In the past, there was a plant kingdom that did not need the mineral kingdom. But the younger plant kingdom needs the mineral kingdom. In the same way, the gods needed human beings at the beginning of Earth's evolution. Without humans, the gods could not have flourished at the beginning of Earth's evolution, just as plants could not have flourished without stones. Now consider the animal and plant kingdoms. There is a very specific relationship between the two kingdoms. Animals exhale carbon dioxide, plants exhale oxygen. They are dependent on each other. The lower plant kingdom lovingly gives back to the animal what it needs. The plant keeps the carbon for itself and gives back the oxygen. Thus, there is a continuous wonderful interaction between the lower and higher kingdoms. Such an interaction also exists between the plant and mineral kingdoms. The plant continuously draws the substances of the earth from the mineral kingdom and thereby sets these substances in motion in a life process. Thus, the higher kingdom acts upon the lower kingdom. And so, at the beginning of Earth's evolution, the realm of the gods also influenced the human realm. In the beginning, there was an interaction similar to that between plants and minerals and between animals and plants. The interaction between gods and humans was initially expressed in what we call love between humans. When humans first appeared on Earth, they became beings of two sexes. This power of love, of kinship among each other, is what expresses the divine at the beginning of Earth's evolution. The gods receive the love pulsating in humans and live on it, just as animals live on the oxygen that plants produce for them. The love that lives in the human race is the food of the gods. In the beginning, everything is built on this love. Blood ties connect people. Tribes, hordes, peoples, and so on are founded on this. All the power of the gods at the beginning of human evolution is based on this love that entwines the two sexes. Love was there before the emergence of dual sexuality. It existed beforehand as a fully conscious love. Now, with the emergence of dual-sexed humans, the consciousness of love has been obscured. It has become a blind instinct, sensuality that is not filled with bright clarity, but only lives out as a dark instinct. The consciousness of love had ascended to the gods. The gods now sat enthroned in the consciousness of love, but humans practiced love as a blind instinct. The gods feed on this blind instinct of human love; it becomes bright light for them. There is a possibility of clairvoyance where everything that lives in human beings as blind urges becomes visible. The gods had this vision at the beginning of human evolution, but human beings were devoid of this faculty. They were filled with passions, they were flooded with what drives the sexes to each other. The gods lived in astral light. They saw these urges, they lived on them.
Just as the younger plant kingdom lagged behind and the mineral kingdom was pushed back, so a new realm of gods and humanity in its present state arose from an ancient realm of gods. For there are also beings who did not attain full consciousness in the astral light. They stood between gods and humans in the midst of it all when humanity began its existence on Earth. We call these beings the hosts of Lucifer. Under the influence of the gods, who had attained perfection through their earlier evolution, human beings would have remained without astral light, without knowledge. These gods had no other interest than that human beings should live on earth. Lucifer, however, had to make up for what he had neglected earlier. He could now only do this by making use of human beings. Sensual existence was present in the human realm. Lucifer had no sensual existence. He had to use human bodies to advance himself. Therefore, he had to give humans the gift of seeing in the light what the gods had implanted in them. The gods had implanted love in them, and Lucifer had to tempt them to see this in the light. So now we have human beings, the formed shape, wisdom; furthermore, Lucifer, who gives light to humanity; and God, who fills human beings with love.
Human being - Wisdom
Lucifer — Light
God — Love
Lucifer has a much more intimate relationship with man than the gods enthroned in love. Lucifer has opened man's eyes. As man opens his eyes and looks out into the world, Lucifer looks out into the world from within man. He completes his development in man. As long as man rested in the bosom of the gods, he was a child of God. As long as he strove for knowledge, he was a friend of Lucifer. This is expressed in the story of Paradise. Jehovah shapes man. He is the spirit of form. He would have created human beings so that they lived in love, without the light. Then Lucifer, the serpent, came and brought humans the light of knowledge and with it the possibility of doing evil. Now Jehovah tells humans that the love that has become connected with the knowledge of Lucifer will bring pain. Jehovah curtails the deeds of the one who implanted knowledge, the light of love, by adding pain to love.
In Cain we see the one who rebels against what is created by blood-bound love. He severs the bonds of kinship. But he is also the representative of independence. Alongside passive love is active, enlightened knowledge. Love—a gift from Jehovah; knowledge—a gift from Lucifer. Love must be regulated. The organization for family ties is the law of Sinai. Alongside this is knowledge, the light that should come from within human beings themselves, which has its origin in the light bearer reigning within them. This, too, must be deepened; it must experience a new phase. This can only happen if the law does not merely reign from outside. The law acted from outside as a coercive law. What Christ brought to earth works from within. It is the light raised up to love, the law that is born in the soul itself, which Paul calls grace. The law that was reborn from the innermost nature was both love and light, and it gave rise to a new evolution on earth. Paul calls Christ the reversed Adam.
In human beings, the God of love worked above them, and Lucifer, the light, worked within them. In order to attain love, one must first become light. Through the appearance of Christ Jesus, this light has been transformed into love. Christ Jesus represents the elevation of light to love.
In the past, Lucifer was spoken of as the other pole, which brought light to humanity. Two powers must work on Earth: Christ, the bearer of love, and Lucifer, the bearer of light. For human beings, light and love are the two poles. Human beings now live under the influence of these two polar forces. The gods who inspired love were once light, and light is called upon to become love again. Light can be misused and lead to evil, but it must be there if humanity is to become free.
The early Christians saw in Lucifer something that was meant to work within human nature. Only later did this view change. Only those who have gone through the torments of doubt can become firmly established in knowledge. The young Christian humanity still had to be protected from the light. But today the time has come when the covenant between love and wisdom is to be renewed. It will be renewed when knowledge is born as wisdom in the human heart through love. This knowledge, which is born as wisdom in the human heart by being elevated to love, is spiritual science.
In ancient times, the law was there. Through Christ, the law became grace by being lifted out of the human breast. Now knowledge must be lifted up to love again. Inner Christianity must be added to the outer organization of Christianity. Until now, Christianity has only been able to realize love in its institutions. But now we must carry love into the deepest depths of the human breast. Now everyone still has self-love for their own opinion. Love only stands above opinion when people can get along despite their different opinions. The most diverse opinions side by side — and above them, love. Then the individual opinions do not act alone, but all together in a great chorus.