The Rudolf Steiner Archive

2

To Rudolf Steiner in Berlin
Wednesday, June 18, 1902, from London

20 Clifton Gardens, Maida Vale, W
den 18ten Juni

Dear Dr.

it would be very nice if you could be here as early as Sunday morning the 22nd.² because then you would have gained a more accurate impression of Mrs. Besant ³. She is an extraordinary and unique phenomenon, and you have to let her speak for herself to do her any justice. Unfortunately for you, the days of the coronation ⁴ fall between the dates when everyone is celebrating and no lectures are given. On Sunday, the 22nd, at 7:00, Mrs. Besant will give the penultimate of her popular lectures, “The Divine Kings.” She is so much a priestess in this lecture cycle that I can only advise you – to whom not many can give anything – to go and get this impression. Tuesday the 24th is the last of another lecture cycle before a smaller audience, 'Will, Emotion and Desire', in which her logic, sharpness of thought and scope were able to fully develop. You should at least hear this last one. The most abstract and difficult cycle for members only, 'Consciousness and its Mechanism' on Thursday evening, unfortunately ends tomorrow. So you won't hear anything more about it. Furthermore, Leadbeater ⁵ On the 23rd in the Blavatsky Lodge ⁶ If you are not here for these three days, the 22nd, 23rd and 24th, you will only have one more Sunday lecture and the convention days,⁷ – at least we know of nothing else for the time being. Mr. Keightley.⁸ who is looking forward to meeting you and asks me only to apologize for his ‘overwork’ during this time, lives at ‘30 Linden Gardens, Bayswater, W.’. Write it down carefully in case you have to take a ‘cab’ alone. If you lose it or forget it, you will of course come to our guesthouse. In any case, I am waiting for news and want to go to the station to greet you there, unless something special prevents me.

Many greetings to you and your wife ⁹

M. v. Sivers

• 2. Rudolf Steiner, who was still negotiating with Hübbe-Schleiden and Deinhard about the foundation of the dissection school in Hanover on June 30, 1902, did not arrive in London until July 1, 1902.
• 3. Annie Besant, née Wood (1847-1933), Englishwoman, one of the leading figures of the Theosophical Society and its president from 1907.
• 4. Edward VII of England, who came to the throne in 1901, was crowned in June 1902.
• 5. Charles Webster Leadbeater (1847-1934), Englishman, theosophical writer, from about 1908 closest associate of Annie Besant, his shady character triggered a lasting severe crisis in the Theosophical Society in 1906.
• 6. Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (1831-1891), Russian, founder and real bearer of the spiritual mission of the Theosophical Society, which was constituted in New York on November 17, 1875.
• 7. Annual Meeting of the European Section of the Theosophical Society in London. Rudolf Steiner spoke there about the tasks of the national sections, in particular of the German section.
• 8. Bertram Keightley (1860-1949), Englishman, Blavatsky's colleague. 1901-05 Secretary General of the European Section (from July 1902: British Section) of the T.G., based in London. Rudolf Steiner was invited to stay with him during this time. Keightley spoke very good German and had published in January 1902 in the “Theosophical Review” a paper with an excerpted translation of Rudolf Steiner's “Mysticism in the Dawn of Modern Spiritual Life...”, which opened up the possibility for Rudolf Steiner to join the T.G. He said about this in Berlin, December 14, 1911: “I define this fact and I defined it at the time: the fact was that the Theosophical Society did not demand anything from me, did not demand that I should have anything in common with any tenets, principles or dogmas that should be advocated, but it accepted something from me, from outside, which was given by me. So it was the most kindly invited that one had to give.” (in GA 264).
• 9. Anna Steiner, nee Eunike, née Schultz (1853-1911), married Rudolf Steiner in 1899. His letters to her are printed in GA 39.

3

To Marie von Sivers, in Russia (probably St. Petersburg) Wednesday, August 20, 1902

Friedenau-Berlin, August 20, 1902

Dear Madam:

Thank you for your letter, which gave me great pleasure. ¹⁰ has been correctly delivered and is on my desk, where it is of great service to me now that I have to refer to it constantly in my relevant studies. I was unable to make the journey ¹¹ for various reasons. In Paris ¹² During my stay, M. Schuré ¹³ no more. I would have liked so much to have spoken with him. It seems to me that there are matters on which I would have valued his judgment. A visit in September will, of course, be impossible for that reason, among all the others, since we shall have our hands full.

Our founding of a German Section is, it seems, more difficult than I had imagined in England. The bad experiences I have had since my return are now compounded by the fact that I have just received a letter from Miss Hooper in which she writes to me that Olcott ¹⁴ does not know his way around when it comes to the two applications he has received. It is therefore likely that we will have to wait for the charter. ¹⁵ Now I will have to wait another eight weeks, because that is how long it will take for Olcott to receive my letter and for the charter to arrive. But I would like to ask you to write to your friend in Kurland ¹⁶ may wait until our section is founded. Right now, in the period immediately before the founding of the Section, it seems better to me if we wait with everything until we have the Section.

When you come, my writing “Christianity as Mystical Fact” will be available; and a writing by Hübbe-Schleiden ¹⁷ (But I would ask you not to reveal the anonymity in which H.S. wishes to shroud himself.) “Serve the Eternal”. I hope that these two writings in particular will help us to make progress in Germany. I had a great deal to do with both of them. But now it is one of my most precious hours, to see ¹⁸ It is a source of the greatest satisfaction for me to be able to work in harmony with Hübbe-Schleiden. I find complete agreement with him on the most important points of the inner shaping of the German movement. And it makes me unspeakably sad that he, in the case of the previous “leaders” of the German Theosophical movement (Bresch ¹⁹ and Hubo ²⁰ and their appendix) finds so little understanding. In Hübbe-Schleiden there lives a real potency in terms of the history of the development of the spirit; in Mr. Hubo and Mr. Bresch there is none at all. They lack certain indispensable prerequisites for leadership. And it is bad that, given the German way of thinking, it will be difficult to keep these personalities within their limits. There will be things in which they will probably put insurmountable obstacles in the way of an understanding when forming sections. It is most disastrous when those who want to set the tone are rigidly dogmatic in everything and lack fundamental convictions almost entirely. Everything that has happened to me recently indicates that Bresch and Hubo's behavior is repelling to people in Germany who have a latent theosophical attitude and whom we necessarily have to draw in. When you come to Berlin, we will have a lot to talk about. We hope we may expect you in Berlin on September 15.²¹ My wife sends her best regards, as do I.

Dr. Rudolf Steiner
Friedenau-Berlin, Kaiserallee 95

• 10. by H.P. Blavatsky, together with her “Isis unveiled” are fundamental works of Theosophy. Obviously, as preparation for his work in the T.G., Rudolf Steiner informed himself in detail about the then-current teachings.
• 11. to Barr in Alsace, where Edouard Schuré, who otherwise lived in Paris, had his summer residence.
• 12. Rudolf Steiner was in Paris from July 13 to 19, returning from London.
• 13. Edouard (1841-1929), French writer, member of the T.G. in France. He was introduced to the German-speaking world through translations by Marie v. Sivers, with whom he was in correspondence from 1899. His “Sacred Drama of Eleusis” and his play “The Children of Lucifer” were performed at the Munich Festival in 1907, 1909-1912. In 1913 he joined the Anthroposophical Society. Rudolf Steiner spoke about him as a writer in his lecture of March 1, 1906 (in GA 54). For more on his personal connection to Marie and Rudolf Steiner, see H. Wiesberger, “Marie Steiner, a Life for Anthroposophy.”
• 14. Henry Steel Olcott (1832-1907), American, co-founder and first president of the T.G. until his death.
• 15. In May 1902, Richard Bresch in Leipzig had collected the signatures of the chairmen of the ten branches of the European Section in Germany on the application for a charter for the German Section to be founded, with Rudolf Steiner as General Secretary. In the process, Bresch had the application signed in two copies. When Wilhelm Hübbe-Schleiden caused difficulties, Bresch simply sent the one copy without the signatures of Hübbe-Schleiden (Hannover), his cousin Günther Wagner (Lugano), and his friend Ludwig Deinhard (Munich) to the General Secretary of the European Section, Bertram Keightley in London. Keightley forwarded this application to the president H. S. Olcott in Adyar (India), with a letter in which he announced that Hübbe-Schleiden would write to Olcott. Olcott did not like the absence of the signatures of Hannover, Lugano and Munich. On July 9, he wrote to Hübbe-Schleiden that the promised letter had not arrived, but that he would wait for the next week's mail boat and then send a blank certificate to Keightley with the authority to give it to the persons whom Keightley thought should have it. He must have done this, and this letter to Keightley, dated around July 16, arrived in London around August 3.
  In Germany, the situation soon cleared up after Bresh's approach became known, and on June 30, Hübbe-Schleiden and Deinhard in Hanover were the last to sign the second copy, which Rudolf Steiner took to London and from there sent to Adyar on July 4. On July 22, Olcott immediately issued the definitive charter and sent a letter to Hübbe-Schleiden and a letter to Rudolf Steiner with the request to constitute the section. The letter to Hübbe-Schleiden arrived in Hannover on August 10. He sent the letter to Rudolf Steiner and the certificate to Keightley in London, from where it did not arrive in Berlin until August 28, a delay of 18 days.
  

  Keightley had left London for India after the annual meeting and had handed over the management of the section to Mrs. Ivy Hooper, who seems to have been very indolent in dealing with business: On August 15, when the letter from Olcott to Rudolf Steiner dated July 22 must have already been in her stack of correspondence, she wrote: “Dear Dr. Steiner, Colonel Olcott wrote to Mr. Keightley about the charter for the German Section [...] Apparently a formal difficulty has arisen for the execution of the charter in that Col. Olcott received two different applications for it. He has asked Mr. Keightley to consult with his colleagues in Germany and act as Col. Olcott's agent. ... I took the matter to Mrs. Besant and she felt that it would be best to refer the matter to you [...] Would you therefore please be so kind as to clarify which of the two groups of applicants should receive the charter and then communicate your decision to the President.” So she only processed the letter from Olcott to Keightley dated July 16, did not take into account the almost three-week mailing time, did not notice that it was already outdated, and also constructed reasons for the letter that Olcott could not have known when he wrote it.

• 16. Presumably Maria v. Strauch-Spettini (1847-1904), who became a member in January 1903. She was one of Marie v. Sivers' teachers in acting and speech art, see: Hella Wiesberger, “Marie Steiner-v. Sivers. A Life for Anthroposophy”, Dornach 1989.
• 17. Wilhelm Hübbe-Schleiden (1846-1916), co-founder in 1885 of the first Theosophical Society in Germany, editor of the occult monthly “Sphinx”, 1897-1901 chairman of the “German Theosophical Society” in Berlin, founded in 1894. In 1911 he became Annie Besant's instrument when she wanted to get rid of the German section.
• 18. The letters from Rudolf Steiner to Hübbe-Schleiden, from which his collaboration on this writing emerges, are printed in Rudolf Steiner “Letters II”, 1st edition, Dornach 1953; intended for GA 250.
• 19. Richard Bresch, member since 1898, editor of the journal Vähan from 1899 to 1906, head of a branch in Leipzig belonging to the German Section until he left the Society in 1905. Rudolf Steiner mentions him in the lecture Berlin, December 14, 1911 (in GA 264) as “a personality who has since left the Society, who was also a mediator of karma - in what way, much could be said about this in an occult context - it so happened that Mr. Richard Bresch, the then chairman of the Leipzig branch, after conferring with various personalities, one day came to Count Brockdorff and said: 'Now that Dr. Steiner is already chairman of the Berlin lodge, he can also be general secretary of the German section. “All kinds of necessities arose for this request to become chairman of the German section to be accepted.“
• 20. Bernhard Hubo (1851-1934), merchant, founder and chairman of the Pythagoras branch in Hamburg from 1898. A complicated character, he initially caused some difficulties, but then became a dedicated advocate of the cause of anthroposophy.
• 21. Marie v. Sivers arrived in Berlin on September 17, 1902 and officially took over the management of the Berlin branch and the Theosophical Library on September 20.

4

Dedication for Marie von Sivers in: Introduction to “Uhlands Werke”.

Rudolf Steiner published Uhland's works in 1902, with a biographical introduction that also appeared as a separate print. - Cf. the collection “Biographies and Biographical Sketches 1894–1905”, GA 33.

[IMAGE REMOVED FROM PREVIEW]

14

To Marie von Sivers in the Baltic seaside resort of Graal
Thursday, 25. August 1904

Berlin, August 25, 1904

Love, “the world is infinite; it is necessary for man to grasp it in its symbols.” This is a quote from the mystic Cardanus.¹⁸ It was symbolic for me yesterday, after eight days of living on the border between land and water,¹⁹. I had to look at the astral water clouded by the various personalities. It's like when the clear lake water passes through various cloudy layers of rock. In such things one experiences again and again what it means to be special.

These are only hints at what could only be said clearly in many words. From these hints, however, you may understand that I was so happy to give the lectures at the workers' school ²⁰ would like to continue. But the gap between what is still possible on the site and what I have to teach is widening all the time. Yesterday I was asked to speak on September 7 on the subject of “Historical Materialism” as a “reply”, after Grunwald, a rigid social democrat, had previously spoken on the same subject. That is of course impossible. I explained that there was no way I could be on the announcement at the same time as Grunwald on the same evening. But I would come to the meeting and, if the occasion arose, I would speak in the discussion. - Grunwald's lecture is intended to form a counterpoint to what I teach. All I could do now to perhaps keep the school was to reject my lecture. Because the juxtaposition would have made it easy for those who don't want my way of thinking. But I want to avoid anything at this point that could cause a rift.

I just wanted to describe the situation to you, dear. I have just come from Potsdam, ²¹ where I was told that the “Children of Lucifer” had been sent to you in correction ²². And now just one more greeting, as heartfelt as it needs to be after the beautiful bond that binds us.

Spiritually with you, Rudolf.

Say hello to your sister ²³ and mother.²⁴

• 18. Hieronymus Cardanus (1501-1576), Italian naturalist, philosopher (Neoplatonist), physician and mathematician. The citation could not be established.
• 19. to be transferred back to the workers' assembly in the Baltic seaside resort of Graal.
• 20. Rudolf Steiner taught from 1899 to 1904/05 at the workers' education school founded by Wilhelm Liebknecht. - Cf. “Mein Lebensgang”, chapter 28; also J. Mücke/A. Rudolph, “Erinnerungen an Rudolf Steiner und seine Wirksamkeit an der Arbeiter-Bildungsschule in Berlin 1899-1904”, Basel 1955.
• 21. the Hayns Erben printing works, which later also printed many works by the Philosophisch-Anthroposophischer Verlag.
• 22. it is the belated August issue of “Lucifer-Gnosis”, where Marie v. Sivers' German translation of Edouard Schuré's drama “The Children of Lucifer” also appeared in installments
• 23. Olga v.Sivers, member since 1902, was a frequent visitor to Germany, played in the Mystery Dramas in Munich, died in Petersburg in 1917 as a result of an infection contracted in military hospital service.
• 24. Caroline v. Sivers, née Baum (1834-1912), of German origin, married the German-Baltic lieutenant general Jakob v. Sivers in Russian service.

15

To Marie von Sivers in the Baltic seaside resort of Graal
Saturday, August 27, 1904

Berlin, August 27, 1904

Darling, I don't want you to worry about me. I must be able to cope for the few days we are talking about. However, it is impossible to say at the moment when I will be able to leave. It's Saturday evening and I've just come from Potsdam, where I was only able to read the last corrections to the current Lucifer booklet today. The printer only finished at 5 o'clock today. That means the typesetting is only finished; now the printing can begin. I will therefore soon have to start believing that my trip to Austria ²⁴ in the spirit of your dear letter.

Today I have a letter from Miss Scholl ²⁵ in which she received an anxious report that Keightley ²⁶Rudolf Steiner had invited Annie Besant on a lecture tour of Germany during his stay in London in May 1904, which took place in September. She was accompanied by Bertram Keightley and Esther Bright. Rudolf Steiner and Marie v. Sivers received Annie Besant in Hamburg and accompanied her on the entire trip. Rudolf Steiner gave the lectures, which were spoken in English, in German. with Mrs. Besant writes. She seems to think that there is nothing good behind it. I immediately wrote her a few lines saying that she should be impartial and that we should not meet this diplomacy with diplomacy. I think the occultist's behavior in such matters is difficult to understand. In such a case, however, it is really a matter of not asking ourselves the question: what does this or that mean? but, relying on the spiritual powers behind us, letting the waves crash all around us. A crisis in the T.S.²⁷ [Theosophical Society], which will also affect us, must one day be believed. - I will always feel safe with you, my dear. But you must be with me. I have often spoken of this to you. Souls like yours, with the beautiful mental intention, need the present. “Stand on his feet”,²⁸ This is the teaching that we must also follow for the Theosophical movement. However much we are misunderstood: there is nothing wrong with that; but we must not be broken in the least.

I have received all your things. The sentence that you do not like I have reformulated. And if you still dislike it, it can be given a different form for the booklet.

So once again: stay, dearest, as long as it has been done. Remember that I even decided to go to a vegetarian restaurant for lunch today. And maybe I will tomorrow too.

I haven't got as far as using the key yet. Because I haven't had time yet. But if I do manage to leave, you'll receive the key at the right time.

Hubo doesn't want any of the topics listed.²⁹ Now he wants me to advise him what to do. On the 31st Mrs. Besant is coming through Hamburg.³⁰ He might ask her if she wants to talk about something else in Hamburg.

If only more could be done now for the dissemination of “Lucifer”. It is clear from various things (letters etc.) that the last issues have been very well received.

The student phil.,³¹ The man you write about certainly means well. But he will have few comrades; and whether he will still think like that when he becomes a Dr. phil. is still the question. The mountains of obstacles in German academic circles that have to be overcome for our world view cannot be guessed by anyone who does not know these circles very well. But I would like to address the young man's intentions.

Warmly united with his dear Rudolf

Greetings mother and sister.

• 24. Rudolf Steiner used to visit his relatives in Horn/Lower Austria every year: his father Johann Steiner (1829-1910), his mother Franziska, née. Blie (1834-1918), sister Leopoldine (1864-1927), brother Gustav (1866-1942).
• 25. Mathilde Scholl (1868-1941), during a longer stay in Italy she became a member of the T.G. in 1899. In October 1902 she was present at the founding meeting of the section in Berlin. From May 1903 she lived in Cologne and organized Rudolf Steiner's lectures there, which led to the founding of the Cologne branch in February 1904. She joined the board of the German Section in October 1903 and from 1905 to 1914 published the Society's internal organ, the “Mitteilungen für die Mitglieder der deutschen Sektion der T.G.”. From 1914 onwards, she lived in Dornach.
• 26. was coming with her
• 27. This crisis, foreseen by Rudolf Steiner, began with the Leadbeater scandal of 1906, intensified with the events surrounding the election of Annie Besant as president after the death of Olcott, and finally led to the expulsion of the German section by Annie Besant at the turn of the year 1912/13 due to the humbug of the “Star in the East”. For more details see “Zur Geschichte und aus den Inhalten ...”, GA 264, and Hella Wiesberger, “Rudolf Steiners esoterische Lehrtätigkeit”, Dornach 1998.
• 28. one of the teachings from the then very well-known booklet by the English Theosophist Mabel Collins ‘Light on the Path’, 1904 new German edition.
• 29. Hubo doesn't want any of the topics listed: Bernhard Hubo, branch manager in Hamburg. Annie Besant had suggested four topics to choose from for her lectures in various German cities, but apparently Hubo didn't like any of them.
• 30. On the 31st Mrs. Besant is coming through Hamburg: on the outward journey to a tour of the Scandinavian section, before her journey through Germany began on September 15 with a lecture back in Hamburg.
• 31. The student phil.: Ludwig Kleeberg (1880-1972), Kassel, who attempted the project of a theosophical student association. Member of the Munich branch since June 1905. - Cf. Kleeberg, “Wege und Worte. Erinnerungen an Rudolf Steiner aus Tagebüchern und aus Briefen”, Stuttgart 1961.

43

Enclosure to a letter that does not exist to Marie von Sivers, c. 5 January 1906 ¹

The Evolution of the Earth

The Earth is the fourth of the seven planets on which man successively develops his seven states of consciousness. It has been shown that the moon is the arena for the development of picture consciousness. A “picture” is only similar to, but not the same as, its object. But the consciousness that is developed on earth produces images that are “equal” to the object to which they belong in a certain respect. That is why earthly consciousness is also called “object consciousness”. However, this object consciousness only develops during the fourth, smaller cycle of the earth (round). During the first three, the conditions previously experienced on Saturn, the Sun and the Moon are briefly repeated. But it must be said again that it is not a mere repetition, but that during this repetition the physical body, the etheric body and the astral body are transformed in such a way that they can become the carriers of the “I”, on whose development the consciousness of the object depends in the fourth round.

So when, after the third round of repetition on earth, a kind of state of sleep is experienced again - between the so-called archetypal and the arupic globe - then, at the beginning of the fourth round, everything that can be regarded as the result of the development of Saturn, Sun and Moon emerges, initially in an arupic form. So we are dealing here with the descendants of the three moon realms: the mineral realm, which is still plant-like in a sense, the plant realm, which has something like animal life, and an animal realm that is higher than the present animal kingdom. These three realms together form the planet that is emerging anew from the state of twilight: the Earth. It should be noted, however, that the former sun and moon are still contained in this earth. When the moon manvantara came to an end, the sun and moon reunited and merged into pralaya as one body. They then also emerge again as one body here, although the tendency to split has already become apparent in the third round of the earth. Now, during the fourth round, the earth is undergoing the rupa and astral states, and is then preparing to become physical again.

The development of this physical state in the three realms mentioned is the responsibility of the “spirits of form”. They transform the earlier “sense-germs” into truly formed sense organs, especially in the case of the highest kingdom, the animal-human kingdom. In all the earlier physical states through which man has passed, the sense organs had not yet taken definite form.

Now, by acquiring a fixed form, these organs cease to be active and lose their productivity, becoming purely passive and capable only of perceiving external objects. The productive power thus withdraws from the sense organs and turns inward, forming the organ of reason. But this organ cannot be formed without a certain part of the human comrades being pushed down to a lower level. Now, however, man himself pushes part of his being down into a subordinate region. He separates part of his being as his own lower nature. And this lower nature retains the productive power that the sense organs have had to give up. This productive power, thrust down into a lower sphere, becomes the power of sexual generation as it appears on earth. The “spirits of form” would congeal all generative power and thus all life, harden it into mere form, if they did not concentrate this power on a part of the human being. Therefore, the spirits of form cause the formation of sex. Without this, statues would have to be created instead of living human beings.

Now the whole process is linked to a complete transformation of the earth. Conditions arise that allow the beings described to live. This is made possible by the fact that the earth - still united with the moon - splits off from what remains as the sun. As a result, the sun emerges as an independent body opposite the earth. This is the external physical condition for the emergence of external perception, of object consciousness, and for the development of the sexual predispositions. But at this time we are still dealing with a dual sexuality. This is because the moon forces are still all contained in the earth. Only during this time the organ of intellect, although present, is still completely inactive. It will only be able to unfold its activity when the power of producing sex has diminished by half, so that each being has only half of the former power of production. This then gives the two sexes. Outwardly, this is brought about by the emergence of those forces from the earth, which then orbit the earth as the present moon. If this separation had not taken place, the whole earth would have had to become a rigid mass, a mere form. But in this way only that which absolutely had to become firm has been removed from it, and this has become the moon, on which human life could not develop. Thus, out of the common planetary matter, the earth has saved what could be productive, even if only in the lower realm of sexual life. The representative of the “spirits of form” is Jehovah. He thus brings about the formation of the sense organs; but he also brought about, if he were now more alone effective, the complete solidification into mere form.

Now two events are significant for the further development. One is the emergence of the two sexes for the reason given above. The form of the sexual stems from the form-spirits. But this does not yet account for the attraction of the two sexes for each other, their inclination towards each other. This is due to the fact that special beings embody themselves in the lives of the two sexes, who descend from a foreign place: from Venus. Through them, love, in its most subordinate form, as an inclination of the sexes [to each other], is now incorporated into the earth. This love is called upon to ennoble itself more and more, and later to take on the highest forms.

Just as the Venus beings now release the element [of affection] of the separate sexes [to each other], they also cause the mind to become fertile. It receives half of the reproductive capacity that has been spared from the sexual power. For this reason, the monads can now descend into the organ of the mind, initially their mental part, which, as shown, formed during the Saturn, Sun and Moon cycles. But the effect of the monads would have remained cold and dry if the astral body had not been given such an impact that the human being would have pursued the activity of his mind with a certain higher passion. This influence came to man from Mars. And those who conveyed it are the Luciferic beings who, on the moon, had indeed progressed beyond the stage of the later existence of man on earth, but had not yet reached the point where, like the Lunar Pitris, they could have concluded their lunar evolution with the Lunar Manvantara. They, as initiates, now bring the astral forces of Mars into the astral body of man and thus fan the passion for the activity of the intellect in it. In this way they revive the knowledge of man; they encourage him to independence. This is the help in the further development of man, which is provided by the luciferic principle. Of course, they also associated self-interest with knowledge. For they do indeed spark thought through passion, and this leads to self-interest. But only through this has it become possible for man to make the earth subservient to his purposes, to use it for his own benefit. Jehovah would have given only the form of the organ of the mind, and the spirits of Venus would have awakened only in this dispassionate sense; for what could be given by them in this direction has, after all, been delivered to the power of reproduction.

• 1. This is clear from the postcard to Johanna Mücke in Berlin, which was stamped on 7 January 1906 and posted in Lindau at the same time as this letter. Rudolf Steiner therefore carried out his intention, expressed in No. 42, to travel to Budapest and Horn (to visit his parents and siblings) around Christmas between January 3 and 7, 1906. On the journey from there to St. Gallen via Munich, he wrote No. 43, “The Evolution of the Earth”.

49

To Marie von Sivers in Donndorf near Bayreuth
Tuesday, August 14, 1906

Berlin, August 14, 1906 My darling! I am happy to believe that your poor head has had a hard time writing letters these days. But think of all that good head has had to do recently! But he must not lose courage. He must find himself again. After all, he is so full of the right feelings. And at the moment he is only worried about external circumstances, while inwardly he is almost predestined to be calm and composed. You see, my darling, that is the necessary thing about occultism: that it only acquires the possibility of unfolding in the world of power when it is at the expense of not applying that power to itself. That is imprecise; but it can be helpful for us to explain.

So far, it does not seem to me as if I had attended a festival performance. ¹⁶ But on the last day of your stay at the “Fantaisie” ¹⁷ I will try to be there then. I will only be able to organize my time for the Austrian trip etc. tomorrow. I have to wait and see how the printing is going.

Yesterday I sent your rubber shoes Selling, ¹⁸ so that he can send them to you. I will send the Bayreuth guide. You should have the carpenter's address tomorrow. I have to go through everything tomorrow anyway, and then it will definitely be found. Searching today would only slow me down.

Poor Kiem has been treated badly. I wrote him a letter in Kassel. Such things cannot surprise anyone who sees into the present-day circumstances. Anyone who is familiar with the legal world from which such minds as the examining magistrate hearing Kiem draw their spiritual nourishment knows that something like this was bound to happen today. Only those who do not see the way things are can be surprised by individual cases. A single such judge [with] his ¹⁹ pitiable mental confusion and his unhealthy emotional life is a victim of the absurd legal habits of our time. And one must have the deepest compassion for the person of such a victim. Our time must produce more and more mental patients. And it would be foolish to believe that anything other than a large-scale spiritual movement could somehow help. The intellectual forces by which official life is conducted today must lead it into the mire. And the “only” great injustice that can be done to all this is to close one's eyes to these conditions. Anyone who wants to see can grasp the absurd with his hands “on the street” everywhere. The German “intellectuals”, for example, are now upset that the Breslau church authorities have rejected a confirmand because he explicitly said that he could not believe in certain sentences of the Apostolicum. The boy even worked out his own credo, submitted it to the church authorities, and the father pulled out all the stops to force the boy's confirmation on the basis of his own apostolicum. So today's confirmands consider themselves entitled to determine the full extent of world knowledge from their own sovereign wisdom. That the boy is like that is understandable when you consider the current influences on children, but that the father wants the boy to be confirmed by a church whose confession the confirmand does not share is something that anyone who can understand should understand, someone who wants to bathe without getting wet.

But no one sees what is at stake. That the church leaders, in their neglect of duty – unconsciously, of course, and out of incompetence – do not manage to give a confirmand the right feeling for the content of what he has to say at the confirmation.

Those who want to see can see the symptoms of the disease that has struck the fourth sub-race of the Atlantians everywhere, and it is as serious as any other disease.

The manuscript for issue 32 of Lucifer is now completely finished. This time I wrote it all by myself, from the first to the last line. What I want to achieve with the next issues should be done in small doses, so this one is just a beginning with an article “The Life Questions of the Theosophical Movement”.²⁰

With all my heart, Rudolf

Please write again when the first lecture at the architects' house ²¹ is. I can't read this number in my notebook. But please do so immediately.

• 16. Rudolf Steiner, Marie v. Sivers and her sister Olga v. Sivers, Sophie Stinde, Countess Pauline v. Kalckreuth were at a performance of Parsifal in Bayreuth (letter to Johanna Mücke dated August 9, 1906). According to Marie v. Sivers' letter to Edouard Schuré dated August 14, 1906, she would have liked to see a performance again together with Rudolf Steiner, but this was not possible.
• 17. Hotel in Donndorf near Bayreuth, where Marie v. Sivers was staying with her mother and sister to recuperate.
• 18. Wilhelm Selling (1869-1960), as a machine technician in Africa, returning shortly before the turn of the century, retired due to illness. He has been a member of the Berlin branch since April 1905 and is fully available to work there. 18
• 19. In the original, “wird” stands for 'miv'.
• 20. Now in “Lucifer Gnosis”, GA 34.
• 21. The first lecture in the fall of 1906 took place on October 11, see “The Cognition of the Supersensible in Our Time and Its Meaning for Today's Life,” GA 55.

55

First will, dated February 19, 1907, before his trip to Vienna.
(The last will was drawn up on March 18, 1915).

[IMAGE REMOVED FROM PREVIEW]

58

To Marie von Sivers in Munich, Sunday, April 28, 1907, from Berlin ²²

Letterhead: Theosophical Society, German Section, Berlin W, Motzstr. 17

My darling!

With these lines I just want to send you warm greetings and tell you that I will try as hard as I can to leave tomorrow evening. I also hope that I will have wrapped up the election matter by then. A circular letter to the board of directors,²³ and one to the chairmen of the branches,²⁴ then the ballot papers with a circular. Miss Boesé ²⁵ and Mr. Selling are copying frantically.

Mrs. Besant sent me the enclosed ²⁵, which I am sending to you. You can see from it what is going on, especially in America.

Your request cannot be considered for the present election. It is a change to the statutes, and this would first have to be decided by the entire T.S. before it can come into force. If we did not vote now, we would violate the statutes. And I could be removed from Adyar. I will telegraph tomorrow afternoon whether I am coming.

All my love, Rdlf.

• 22. To organize the presidential election within the German section, Rudolf Steiner, who was already in Munich with Marie v. Sivers in April to prepare for the congress, was again in Berlin for a few days.
• 23. Dated April 28, 1907, in GA 264.
• 24. Unknown.
• 25. Louise Boesé (died 1960), came to Berlin in the winter of 1906 on the recommendation of Miss Esther Bright to hear Rudolf Steiner's lectures, worked for a time in the secretariat, led working groups in the Berlin branch and elsewhere, later lived in Dornach for many years, returned to France in old age.
• 25. circulars “To the Members of the British Section etc.”, a pamphlet by A. Besant, dated Benares March 24, 1907.

59

Second will, dated August 5, 1907,
before his departure for Italy

Will.

I, the undersigned, hereby declare that after my death all correspondence and all other written documents and letters written by me or by others and addressed to me or handed over to me shall pass to Miss Marie von Sivers, currently currently residing at 17 Motzstraße, Berlin W; and that they fall to her by inheritance in such a way that they become her rightful property and are to be administered by her alone.

My parents and siblings living in Horn, Lower Austria, shall receive my books and any other possessions I may have in such a way that they receive everything that Fräulein von Sivers does not claim as her own. On the other hand, my wife, who is currently separated from me, shall receive nothing except the compulsory portion. It would be in accordance with my wishes if Miss von Sivers also kept all the books for herself and only handed over the value of the same to my parents and siblings, or the compulsory portion to my wife.

Dr. Rudolf Steiner

Berlin, 5 August 1907
Motzstraße 17.