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The following is an excerpt from Rudolph Steiner's book titled "The Renewal Of The Social Organism." The manuscript was written circa 1919-1920 and in the context of Germany's defeat in WW1, and a national soul-searching about her future. "These descendants are in a situation where truly it is not enough merely to remember the ideas of their forefathers, but where they must carry forward these ideas in a new form suited to modern times. Would the German deny his own being through lack of faith in ideas, and thus lose his very self? Surely the best part of the German spirit lies in this faith in the potency of ideas. And a revelation of the German spirit, once displayed, once displayed in its genuine truth, would be one with which the world must reckon. A large enough number of Germans who share the heritage of faith in the intellectual world, and bringing to it all the forces of their souls, must be the saving of their people. No negotiations with the world abroad will be of any good to the German people if carried on with indications of disbelief in ideas and their practical utility, for in all such negotiations the very core of the German spirit is absent. All objections stemming from the view that now is not the time to indulge in ideas should be silenced. There can be no question of any time that will bear in it the seeds of any real possibility of life for the German people, until the power of ideas has been recognized by a sufficiently large number of people. Not a faith that trims its ideas according to outer events, but a faith in ideas--that shall be the force that drives the German nation. What results may be confidently awaited in the same faith; to thrust it aside and to wait idly in a round of false activity while destiny pursues its course--this, for every German, is a sin against his own being, a sin against the spirit of this world hour, a sin against the demand of true self-awareness." END EXCERPT This closing segment of the book is involved in a discussion of both Goethe and Schiller. To understand what Steiner is really speaking about you must understand fully the implications of Goethe's writings. Read "Faust." Read Goethe's poem titled "Prometheus." In the latter poem you will be forced to come to the conclusion that Goethe subscribed to the Luciferian philosophy then so prevalent, and which continues today. Like Goethe, Steiner was an initiate and adept of the mysteries, and their works are written in veiled language for the profane to begin the process of becoming "enlightened." Have you been "kissed by a rose?" Finally, you cannot appreciate at all what Steiner is writing of in that work without having had read Hegel, which you should indeed read, and wherein you will find the origins of modern totalitarianism. And I'll add, lest I be misunderstood, that Steiner had every right to his opinions, and the ability to publish his works. However, his brand of mysticism, as well as that of other Germans of his day and soon after, can arguably be said to be the very roots of the mystical ideas of the SS cult, replete as it was with ritual initiations in certain Bavarian castles. No, I am not arguing that Steiner was wholly responsible for what ensued. However, the nature cults of the greater "volkish" movement can be laid at his and some other's feet. Study, study, study. Words mean things, and ideas are indeed potent. Besides giving a cursory read of the attached link, which I do not necessarily endorse, but which gives one a taste of the various ideologies then current, commence a study of this history with study of Madame Blavatsky and Theosophy. The similarities of theosophy, anthroposophy, SS beliefs, and present "New Age" beliefs are legion. |