thewakingtimes--2020-09-19--Iboga or Ayahuasca – Which Plant Medicine Is Right For You?

No doubt , the exploration of plant medicines has changed my life in the most profound and positive ways ( albeit very challenging at times ) .
Along with my husband , Anthony , my first awakening experience was with Ayahuasca in 2010 on an island in Thailand .
This marked a turning point in our consciousness that could never be undone .
So much so that we left our cushy , relaxed lifestyle on a tropical island to embark on a pilgrimage to the Sacred Valley in Peru , and most importantly , into the depths of ourselves .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ fast and there was an immediate craving for more ; more wisdom , more clearing and more unveiling .
Throughout dozens of ceremonies , filled with profound wisdom and quite a bit of ass-kicking , the medicine and I had a beautiful and tumultuous relationship ; eventually resulting in a “ break-up ” a few years later .
But , in the meantime , I had been broken wide open – and this was only the beginning .
About a year later , Anthony discovered the plant medicine known as “ Iboga ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the medicine .
I soon followed as a participant ; at first , more with a curiosity than an actual call to Iboga itself .
But again , my “ internal doors ” were blown wide open , and ultimately , I embraced Iboga as my medicine as well .
Ayahuasca and I have since healed our relationship and I now accept both sacred plants as divine instruments of change in my life , as well as sacred vehicles for expanding consciousness as a whole .
Deeply inspired by the power of Iboga @ @ @ @ @ @ @ our own wholistic Iboga retreat .
At “ Awaken Your Soul ” in Costa Rica , we hold space for personal transformation for those who are ready to heal and awaken .
Not surprisingly , we are often presented with the question , “ What ’ s the difference between Iboga and Ayahuasca ?
” Unfortunately , there are no complete clinical trials or official documentation to answer this question , not yet anyway .
So , I can only speak from our own extensive experience with each medicine , as well as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ others with whom we have closely worked .
( If you have anything to add we would love to hear from you ! )
As two master teachers , both Ayahuasca and Iboga are psychoactive plant-based substances that ignite an experience of personal and spiritual transformation .
Both enter the body with the sole mission to aid healing and awakening , thereby transcending old dysfunctional ways .
By connecting with the highest wisdom of the seeker , each medicine offers a highly customized and personal experience .
Ayahuasca and Iboga each carry their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , heal trauma , shed limiting beliefs and transform anyone who is truly ready .
We highly recommend one or both medicines for seekers who are mentally stable , aligned with the appropriate health requirements and ready to do the work required in order to implement what they learn from the plant medicine ( s ) .
There are , however , some very stark and powerful differences between these two medicines that are important to distinguish , especially for the first time explorer , and certainly , one or both medicines may @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
It is also important to note that each medicine teaches in a distinct way that resonates with the vibrational frequency of the individual seeker .
In order to outline the differences between these two powerful plant medicines , let ’ s now look at a comprehensive overview of each .
Ayahuasca is a brew that is made from the stems and leaves of a vine ( Banisteriopsis Caapi ) in combination with other plants .
It is used by many shamanic traditions within the Amazon basin to connect with the wisdom of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ study and physical and emotional healing .
Over the last few decades , Ayahuasca has become popular for ceremonies held around the world and is now one of the more well-known enthogenic plants .
Since the essence of Ayahuasca is a feminine spirit , it is often known as Mother Ayahuasca , the Grandmother or simply Aya .
Regardless of what you might call this plant medicine , “ she ” is nurturing and colorful ; often inducing incredibly bright , fractal visions .
Moreover , the teachings of Aya can be multi-dimensional @ @ @ @ @ @ @ into endless cosmic realms , and many experiences are laced with visits from animal spirits and esoteric beings .
As a medicine of love and openness , Ayahuasca teaches us about the love , compassion and interconnectedness that weaves us all together as one .
She shows us both the nature of the Universe and the nature of creation .
Her medicine is a powerful heart opener that inspires us to unite , thereby bridging the gap of separation that we might often feel in this three dimensional life .
Although an experience @ @ @ @ @ @ @ opening effects , at times , it can also be quite dark difficult , not to mention confusing .
Nonetheless , Mother Aya can bring us deep into our own shadow , cleverly leading us to review what no longer serves .
In comical and classic feminine form , Mother Aya often says one thing but means another , and at times , deciphering her messages can be quite challenging .
Due to the cosmic nature of her teachings , wisdom can often get lost in translation .
Ayahuasca can also take us @ @ @ @ @ @ @ because this can compromise our grounding energy , we may be left feeling flighty or ungrounded .
Although there is a beautiful euphoria in this space , the experience can be challenging to integrate into everyday life .
Ayahuasca ceremonies are held for small groups or anywhere up to 100+ participants , depending on the facilitators .
The ceremony begins almost immediately by drinking the tea of Ayahuasca and the entire journey is spent typically in the dark , either sitting up or lying on a mattress .
Most ceremonies are led by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , as well as other spiritual music which is typically live but sometimes recorded .
Since Ayahuasca is a very communal medicine , it ’ s common for energies to travel around the ceremony space , and this means that we might be processing other participant ’ s “ stuff ” along with our own .
However , since we all exist within a communal life and we are meant to support one another , this is often the core essence of Aya ’ s beauty and wisdom .
Although a communal ceremony @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be challenging , especially for empaths who are already absorbing/processing the feelings of others and/or those who have a hard time distinguishing their own energetic boundaries ( in fact , for most of my life , this was me ) .
While the effects of the medicine can last 4 to 8 hours , there ’ s often a cathartic purge of energy , such as vomiting , diarrhea , crying , yawning , etc… .
The recovery time is relatively quick once the ceremony ends and it is normal to get sleep @ @ @ @ @ @ @ breakfast .
Typically , most participants experience a warm , loving afterglow the following day .
The teachings of this medicine are profound , yet they sometimes can fade quickly , often calling for multiple ceremonies in order to experience lasting results ( some devotees will drink dozens if not hundreds of times ) .
Therefore , although Aya ’ s infinite wisdom can be highly transformative , she can require consistent maintenance .
Through a very grounding energy , Iboga can take us down into the root of who we are , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ depths of ourselves , our lineage and our belief systems .
As a medicine that heals the mind , it pulls and cleanses stored files within the psyche as if de-fragging the hard-drive of an internal operating system ; its mission is to create more peace and quiet within .
Iboga also calms the central nervous system , drastically reducing the “ fight or flight ” response in many individuals , and it is also believed to rewire neurotransmitters in the brain .
The spirit of the plant is said to be masculine @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , it is very direct , much like a stern yet wise father or grandfather , and , consequently , it is often called The Grandfather .
However , the medicine is also known to carry both the highest wisdom of the masculine and feminine .
The teachings of Iboga are simple and clear , and often funny as the medicine has a cheeky sense of humor .
Because it is so direct , there is little room for confusion or a need to interpret messages .
In the Missoko Bwiti tradition , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to reconnect with their own .
During this process they ask direct questions to their soul about their personal lives .
Typically , the answers are very short , sweet and profound .
By reconnecting with the softness and wisdom of our soul , it is common to experience lasting change in our lives .
The soul also carries no ego so this is often a loving and compassionate experience .
This process also connects us to our own intrinsic power where the belief in ourselves is reignited .
Initially in the west @ @ @ @ @ @ @ through the use of Ibogaine ( an isolation of only one of the alkaloids ) which quickly detoxifies the body from opiates with minimal withdrawal .
Ibogaine has been most commonly used for this purpose for decades .
Although Iboga and Ibogaine are very different in their true essence , they have been categorized together , and as a result , they have both gained a reputation for intensity that is mostly associated with addiction and detox .
More recently , Iboga has become better known in the spiritual community for its profound @ @ @ @ @ @ @ very powerful , the intensity of the medicine is due to the duration of the direct effects and staying power of the wisdom , rather than the scary or psychedelic nature of the experience itself .
Nonetheless , the ceremony and recovery period take time , and typically , the whole process is a 24 hour cycle until sleep and the appetite fully returns ; usually , the strongest effects are experienced between 6 to10 hours .
Although the duration can sometimes be shorter or longer , the combined length of the ceremony @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the magic of healing .
For instance , at “ Awaken Your Soul , ” our ceremonies are facilitated for 6 to 12 participants , and at 8pm , the ceremony begins around a communal fire where teachings of the medicine are shared .
After some time , the medicine is served , and soon thereafter , participants begin to lie down on a mattress where they spend the night and remain until dawn .
The ceremony is guided by traditional Bwiti music that has a very fast tempo and is meant to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an energy purge in the form of vomiting , sweating , shaking , crying , yawning , etc… is normal , it is not absolute .
Even though purging can sound unappealing , it is a very important part of the process , resulting in cleansing and resetting the body , mind and soul .
Since Iboga is a stimulant , it is rare for sleep to come until the following evening , and therefore , the day after an Iboga ceremony is spent as a “ discovery day ” for deep introspection @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the ceremony itself .
After sleep and nourishing food , most participants feel amazing the second day after the ceremony .
Most who become followers of this medicine participate in 2 to 10 full ceremonies in order to receive what they are seeking , and typically more ceremonies are not needed .
Although some will go on to micro-dosing in order to keep the spirit of Iboga alive , it is a very subtle and mild experience .
While the wisdom of Iboga is deep and lasting , and may not require dozens @ @ @ @ @ @ @ greatly boosted by the support of specialized coaches , healers and other complementary modalities .

My Journey with Plant Medicines
No doubt, the exploration of plant medicines has changed my life in the most profound and positive ways (albeit very challenging at times).
Along with my husband, Anthony, my first awakening experience was with Ayahuasca in 2010 on an island in Thailand. This marked a turning point in our consciousness that could never be undone. So much so that we left our cushy, relaxed lifestyle on a tropical island to embark on a pilgrimage to the Sacred Valley in Peru, and most importantly, into the depths of ourselves.
My relationship with Ayahuasca was deep and fast and there was an immediate craving for more; more wisdom, more clearing and more unveiling. Throughout dozens of ceremonies, filled with profound wisdom and quite a bit of ass-kicking, the medicine and I had a beautiful and tumultuous relationship; eventually resulting in a “break-up” a few years later. But, in the meantime, I had been broken wide open – and this was only the beginning.
About a year later, Anthony discovered the plant medicine known as “Iboga” and he immediately committed to training with the medicine. I soon followed as a participant; at first, more with a curiosity than an actual call to Iboga itself. But again, my “internal doors” were blown wide open, and ultimately, I embraced Iboga as my medicine as well. Ayahuasca and I have since healed our relationship and I now accept both sacred plants as divine instruments of change in my life, as well as sacred vehicles for expanding consciousness as a whole.
Deeply inspired by the power of Iboga, my husband and I now have our own wholistic Iboga retreat. At “Awaken Your Soul” in Costa Rica, we hold space for personal transformation for those who are ready to heal and awaken.
Not surprisingly, we are often presented with the question, “What’s the difference between Iboga and Ayahuasca?” Unfortunately, there are no complete clinical trials or official documentation to answer this question, not yet anyway. So, I can only speak from our own extensive experience with each medicine, as well as drawing from the anecdotal descriptions from many others with whom we have closely worked. (If you have anything to add we would love to hear from you!)
Two Master Teachers!
As two master teachers, both Ayahuasca and Iboga are psychoactive plant-based substances that ignite an experience of personal and spiritual transformation. Both enter the body with the sole mission to aid healing and awakening, thereby transcending old dysfunctional ways. By connecting with the highest wisdom of the seeker, each medicine offers a highly customized and personal experience.
Ayahuasca and Iboga each carry their own unique power to release the past, heal trauma, shed limiting beliefs and transform anyone who is truly ready.
We highly recommend one or both medicines for seekers who are mentally stable, aligned with the appropriate health requirements and ready to do the work required in order to implement what they learn from the plant medicine(s).
There are, however, some very stark and powerful differences between these two medicines that are important to distinguish, especially for the first time explorer, and certainly, one or both medicines may not be the right fit for everyone. It is also important to note that each medicine teaches in a distinct way that resonates with the vibrational frequency of the individual seeker.
In order to outline the differences between these two powerful plant medicines, let’s now look at a comprehensive overview of each.
Ayahuasca
Ayahuasca is a brew that is made from the stems and leaves of a vine (Banisteriopsis Caapi) in combination with other plants. It is used by many shamanic traditions within the Amazon basin to connect with the wisdom of nature; for the purpose of spiritual study and physical and emotional healing. Over the last few decades, Ayahuasca has become popular for ceremonies held around the world and is now one of the more well-known enthogenic plants.
Since the essence of Ayahuasca is a feminine spirit, it is often known as Mother Ayahuasca, the Grandmother or simply Aya. Regardless of what you might call this plant medicine, “she” is nurturing and colorful; often inducing incredibly bright, fractal visions. Moreover, the teachings of Aya can be multi-dimensional, often taking us far outside ourselves into endless cosmic realms, and many experiences are laced with visits from animal spirits and esoteric beings.
As a medicine of love and openness, Ayahuasca teaches us about the love, compassion and interconnectedness that weaves us all together as one. She shows us both the nature of the Universe and the nature of creation. Her medicine is a powerful heart opener that inspires us to unite, thereby bridging the gap of separation that we might often feel in this three dimensional life.
Although an experience with Aya can have euphoric and heart opening effects, at times, it can also be quite dark difficult, not to mention confusing. Nonetheless, Mother Aya can bring us deep into our own shadow, cleverly leading us to review what no longer serves.
In comical and classic feminine form, Mother Aya often says one thing but means another, and at times, deciphering her messages can be quite challenging. Due to the cosmic nature of her teachings, wisdom can often get lost in translation. Ayahuasca can also take us far out into other realms, and because this can compromise our grounding energy, we may be left feeling flighty or ungrounded. Although there is a beautiful euphoria in this space, the experience can be challenging to integrate into everyday life.
Ayahuasca ceremonies are held for small groups or anywhere up to 100+ participants, depending on the facilitators. The ceremony begins almost immediately by drinking the tea of Ayahuasca and the entire journey is spent typically in the dark, either sitting up or lying on a mattress. Most ceremonies are led by South American shamanic medicine songs called Icaros, as well as other spiritual music which is typically live but sometimes recorded.
Since Ayahuasca is a very communal medicine, it’s common for energies to travel around the ceremony space, and this means that we might be processing other participant’s “stuff” along with our own. However, since we all exist within a communal life and we are meant to support one another, this is often the core essence of Aya’s beauty and wisdom.
Although a communal ceremony can be powerful, it can also be challenging, especially for empaths who are already absorbing/processing the feelings of others and/or those who have a hard time distinguishing their own energetic boundaries (in fact, for most of my life, this was me).
While the effects of the medicine can last 4 to 8 hours, there’s often a cathartic purge of energy, such as vomiting, diarrhea, crying, yawning, etc…. The recovery time is relatively quick once the ceremony ends and it is normal to get sleep that night and be mostly recovered by breakfast. Typically, most participants experience a warm, loving afterglow the following day.
The teachings of this medicine are profound, yet they sometimes can fade quickly, often calling for multiple ceremonies in order to experience lasting results (some devotees will drink dozens if not hundreds of times). Therefore, although Aya’s infinite wisdom can be highly transformative, she can require consistent maintenance.
Iboga
Iboga comes from the bark of a small shrub that is native to parts of West Africa. Known as the “Tree of Life,” it has been used for thousands of years by groups in Gabon, Cameroon and parts of the Congo. The indigenous devotees of this medicine are called the Bwiti and they use this sacred plant to study life within themselves. As a very deep plant-medicine with ancient wisdom, Iboga gives the user direct access to personal truth, and because it offers profound and life-changing insights, it is often called “the master of all teacher plants.”
Through a very grounding energy, Iboga can take us down into the root of who we are, pushing us to truly look into the depths of ourselves, our lineage and our belief systems. As a medicine that heals the mind, it pulls and cleanses stored files within the psyche as if de-fragging the hard-drive of an internal operating system; its mission is to create more peace and quiet within. Iboga also calms the central nervous system, drastically reducing the “fight or flight” response in many individuals, and it is also believed to rewire neurotransmitters in the brain.
The spirit of the plant is said to be masculine by most, and in this way, it is very direct, much like a stern yet wise father or grandfather, and, consequently, it is often called The Grandfather. However, the medicine is also known to carry both the highest wisdom of the masculine and feminine. The teachings of Iboga are simple and clear, and often funny as the medicine has a cheeky sense of humor. Because it is so direct, there is little room for confusion or a need to interpret messages.
In the Missoko Bwiti tradition, participants are individually guided by a provider to reconnect with their own. During this process they ask direct questions to their soul about their personal lives. Typically, the answers are very short, sweet and profound. By reconnecting with the softness and wisdom of our soul, it is common to experience lasting change in our lives. The soul also carries no ego so this is often a loving and compassionate experience. This process also connects us to our own intrinsic power where the belief in ourselves is reignited.
Initially in the west, Iboga has been known more commonly through the use of Ibogaine (an isolation of only one of the alkaloids) which quickly detoxifies the body from opiates with minimal withdrawal. Ibogaine has been most commonly used for this purpose for decades. Although Iboga and Ibogaine are very different in their true essence, they have been categorized together, and as a result, they have both gained a reputation for intensity that is mostly associated with addiction and detox.
More recently, Iboga has become better known in the spiritual community for its profound and transformational effects. While Iboga is very powerful, the intensity of the medicine is due to the duration of the direct effects and staying power of the wisdom, rather than the scary or psychedelic nature of the experience itself. Nonetheless, the ceremony and recovery period take time, and typically, the whole process is a 24 hour cycle until sleep and the appetite fully returns; usually, the strongest effects are experienced between 6 to10 hours. Although the duration can sometimes be shorter or longer, the combined length of the ceremony and recovery time are essential parts in the magic of healing.
For instance, at “Awaken Your Soul,” our ceremonies are facilitated for 6 to 12 participants, and at 8pm, the ceremony begins around a communal fire where teachings of the medicine are shared. After some time, the medicine is served, and soon thereafter, participants begin to lie down on a mattress where they spend the night and remain until dawn. The ceremony is guided by traditional Bwiti music that has a very fast tempo and is meant to clear and cleanse the mind.
Although an energy purge in the form of vomiting, sweating, shaking, crying, yawning, etc… is normal, it is not absolute. Even though purging can sound unappealing, it is a very important part of the process, resulting in cleansing and resetting the body, mind and soul. Since Iboga is a stimulant, it is rare for sleep to come until the following evening, and therefore, the day after an Iboga ceremony is spent as a “discovery day” for deep introspection; often being even more enlightening than the ceremony itself. After sleep and nourishing food, most participants feel amazing the second day after the ceremony.
Most who become followers of this medicine participate in 2 to 10 full ceremonies in order to receive what they are seeking, and typically more ceremonies are not needed. Although some will go on to micro-dosing in order to keep the spirit of Iboga alive, it is a very subtle and mild experience.
While the wisdom of Iboga is deep and lasting, and may not require dozens of ceremonies, the integration process is greatly boosted by the support of specialized coaches, healers and other complementary modalities.


thewakingtimes--2020-09-19--Battered Souls #015 with Rob Lenfestey – Staying Connected with The Wim Hof Method

Battered Souls # 015 with Rob Lenfestey – Staying Connected with The Wim Hof Method Get the latest Waking Times @ @ @ @ @ .
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In this episode Dylan talks with Rob Lenfestey , CEO @ @ @ @ @ one of the first certified Wim Hof breathing method instructors in the United States .
@ @ @ @ @ Mandala Springs , an eco-retreat center in the Blue Ridge Mountains , and as a @ @ @ @ @ people to reconnect to nature for healing and living an empowered , holistic lifestyle .
@ @ @ @ @ ecologist , conservationist and steward of the forest , as well as a music producer @ @ @ @ @ about the Wim Hof method , his perspectives on staying grounded and sane in these @ @ @ @ @ about about the struggles he ’ s overcome in order to become the kind of @ @ @ @ @ positive impact in the world .
Visit us on the web – Battered Souls

Battered Souls #015 with Rob Lenfestey – Staying Connected with The Wim Hof Method
In this episode Dylan talks with Rob Lenfestey, CEO of Mandala chocolate, and one of the first certified Wim Hof breathing method instructors in the United States. He is the owner of Mandala Springs, an eco-retreat center in the Blue Ridge Mountains, and as a visionary leader, he inspires people to reconnect to nature for healing and living an empowered, holistic lifestyle.
Rob is also a passionate ecologist, conservationist and steward of the forest, as well as a music producer and multi-instrumentalist.
We talk about the Wim Hof method, his perspectives on staying grounded and sane in these crazy times, and also about about the struggles he’s overcome in order to become the kind of person that has such a positive impact in the world.
Visit Rob’s works:
Mandala Chocolate
Amorphos at Bandcamp (Find Guided Wim Hof Meditations here)
Convergence Lifestyle at YouTube
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thewakingtimes--2020-09-21--Rudolf Steiner: Dweller On The Threshold

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The most enigmatic figure to emerge from the “ occult revival ” of the early twentieth century was also the most successful , the Austrian “ spiritual scientist ” Rudolf Steiner ( 1861-1925 ) .
Although many of his contemporaries were outwardly more eccentric – think of Madame Blavatsky , Gurdjieff or Aleister Crowley – it ’ s precisely Steiner ’ s sobriety that is so striking , making him seem somewhat out of place in the often flamboyant world of the esoteric .
We @ @ @ @ @ @ @ higher consciousness and spiritual worlds with exotic , extraordinary characters with something of the trickster about them ; Blavatsky , Gurdjieff and Crowley would certainly fall into this category .
Steiner was precisely the opposite .
Standing at the lectern with his pince-nez in hand , he projected an image of irreproachable rectitude .
Steiner was earnestness incarnate , his one gesture of bohemian extravagance the flowing bow ties he was fond of wearing , a remnant of his early student days .
Where Blavatsky , Gurdjieff and Crowley each took pains to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ something simple and peasant-like about Steiner .
Combined with this wholesomeness was an encyclopedic erudition .
If we were to use an archetype to describe Steiner , it would have to be that of “ the Professor ” – or more precisely , “ the Doctor , ” as he was known by those around him .
Commenting on her magnum opus , The Secret Doctrine , Madame Blavatsky once remarked that she “ wrote , wrote , wrote ” like the Wandering Jew “ walks , walks , walks.
” Steiner too @ @ @ @ @ @ @ main mode of disseminating his ideas was lecturing , and in the years between 1900 and 1925 , he lectured , lectured , lectured , delivering more than 6,000 talks across Europe .
In a dry and often pedantic style , Steiner informed his audience of the results of his spiritual research , his “ supersensible ” readings of the occult history of the world made available to him through what is called “ the Akashic Record.
” In matter-of-facts terms , he introduced them to his teaching , Anthroposophy , telling them @ @ @ @ @ @ @ life after death , astral and etheric bodies , the true meaning of Christianity and much , much more .
Yet this humble , self-effacing character became one of the most influential , and simultaneously vilified , forces in the spiritual and cultural life of early twentieth century Europe , and his ideas are still relevant today .
Steiner ’ s efforts to lead “ the Spiritual in the human being to the Spiritual in the Universe ” have produced remarkably concrete results .
Since his death , more than 1,000 schools around @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pedagogical principles , not to mention the many special-needs schools , working along lines developed by Steiner a century ago .
There are also the hundreds of “ bio-dynamic ” farms , employing Steiner ’ s agricultural insights , developed decades in advance of our interest in ecology and organic foods .
The practical application of Steiner ’ s ideas had also informed very successful avenues in holistic healing , the arts , architecture , economics , religion and other areas .
Given these achievements in the “ real world , ” which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , why isn ’ t Steiner better known ?
You would reasonably expect the average educated person to have some idea of who , say , Jung is , or Krishnamurti , or the Dalai Lama ; possibly even Blavatsky , Gurdjieff or Crowley .
But Steiner ?
He remains something of a mystery , a name associated with a handful of different disciplines and endeavours , but not solidly linked to any one thing .
He remains , as one of his most eloquent apologists , the Inkling Owen Barfield , called @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the twentieth century.
” It ’ s certainly time that he was better known .
Rudolf Steiner was born on 27 February 1861 , in the small rural town of Kraljevec in what was then Hungary but is today part of Croatia .
His father was a telegraph operator for the Southern Austrian Railway , and Steiner spent his first years amidst magnificent scenery : mountain ranges and green plains were his playgrounds .
Steiner felt that it was significant that he grew up in a part of Europe where East meets West @ @ @ @ @ @ @ childhood had an equal measure of natural beauty and modern technology – at the time , both the railways and the telegraph were relatively new innovations .
In Knowledge of the Higher Worlds and its Attainment ( 1905 ) , Steiner relates that a crucial experience on the path of higher consciousness is an encounter with the Guardian of the Threshold , a spiritual being embodying one ’ s unredeemed karma .
Well before his career as an esoteric teacher , Steiner was himself a dweller on several thresholds , having one foot @ @ @ @ @ @ @ other in the methodology of science .
It was this combination of mystic visionary and disciplined thinker that gave Steiner ’ s later career its peculiar character .
When Steiner was eight , his father was transferred to Neudörfl , near the border with Lower Austria .
An argument with the local teacher led his father to educate the boy himself , and this meant that he spent a great deal of time on his own at the railway station where his father worked .
Young Steiner was deeply introverted ; as he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , he had great difficulty relating to the outer world .
He also had an inquisitive mind and was obsessed with many questions the adults he knew seemed unable to answer .
This subjectivity might have taken a morbid turn were it not for his discovery of mathematics .
When Steiner came upon a book of geometry , it was a revelation .
“ That one can work out forms which are seen purely inwardly , independent of the outer senses , gave me a feeling of deep contentment .
I found consolation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ unanswered questions .
To be able to grasp something purely spiritual brought me an inner joy .
I know that through geometry I first experienced happiness.
” 1 Steiner ’ s joy upon discovering geometry may strike us as odd , yet the experience was essential in getting him through an early crisis .
What impressed Steiner so greatly about geometry was that it seemed to offer proof that within the mind there existed a kind of “ soul space , ” an inner equivalent of the external space of the natural world @ @ @ @ @ @ @ setting for spiritual beings and events.
” Thoughts for the young Steiner were not “ mere pictures we form of things ” ; they were rather the “ revelations of a spiritual world seen on the stage of the soul.
” Geometry , Steiner believed , although produced by the human mind , had an objective reality independent of it , and for him this meant that the soul space in which it was revealed was also real.2 Rather precocious stuff , perhaps , but Steiner ’ s early years included an event @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s monopoly on reality .
One day at the railway station , he had a paranormal experience , an early manifestation of his psychic abilities .
Sitting in the waiting room , he saw a strange woman enter ; although he didn ’ t know her , he felt she resembled other members of his family .
Standing in the middle of the room , the woman spoke to the boy .
“ Try to help me as much as you can – now as well as in later life , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the stove and disappeared .
Steiner decided not to tell his parents , afraid that they would scold him for lying .
But he noticed that his father was sad , and he later discovered that a female relative who lived in the neighbouring town had committed suicide at the same time that he had had his vision .
This early experience marks for Steiner the beginning of a life-long involvement with the dead .
Much of his later esoteric teaching involves accounts of the soul ’ s experiences in the afterlife and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the balancing of the spiritual books that casts the departed back into the stream of life in order to complete their tasks .
While other boys of his age were fantasising about the Austrian equivalent of cowboys and Indians , Steiner was preoccupied with the reality of the spirit worlds and the soul ’ s encounter with the beings that inhabit them .
Later , as a young man , Steiner would on two occasions have unusual opportunities to verify some of his ideas about the meaning of death .
Twice he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in which the father was a recluse who would die soon after Steiner made their acquaintance .
Yet on both occasions , although never actually meeting the man , Steiner formed a profound intuitive relation with the deceased , so deep and insightful in fact that he was asked by both families to give the funeral orations .
Later still , during his years as an esoteric teacher , Steiner informed his followers that one means of helping the dead in their spiritual journeys was to read to them from his writings .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ was transferred once again , this time to Inzersdorf .
His new location had the advantage of being close to Vienna , and it was decided that Steiner would study at the Technical School there .
Although he had leanings toward literature and philosophy , he chose instead to work towards becoming a science teacher .
One day on the train to Vienna , he met a man who would have a profound influence on his life .
Felix Koguzki was a herb-gatherer who travelled to Vienna regularly to sell his wares .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ fell into conversation , but the teenaged Steiner soon discovered that this simple , uneducated man had strange experiences like his own , and a deep , personal knowledge of the other worlds .
He was the first person with whom he could speak about his spiritual visions , and their talks boosted Steiner ’ s confidence ; more than likely , they also convinced him that he wasn ’ t crazy .
Around the same time , Steiner had an encounter with another individual whose name has not come down to us @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ the Master.
” The French writer Edouard Schuré , author of the bestselling The Great Initiates ( 1889 ) , and later a friend and follower of Steiner , remarked that the Master was “ one of those potent personalities who are on Earth to fulfil a mission under the mask of some homely occupation.
” Steiner had by this time read widely in philosophy , specifically the German Idealists , and had worked his way through Hegel , Schelling and several others , absorbing Kant ’ s Critique of Pure Reason @ @ @ @ @ @ @ him .
Steiner was obsessed , then and later , with refuting scientific materialism , and this became the impulse that drove his philosophical studies .
Although he doesn ’ t mention this episode in his Autobiography , in a lecture given in Berlin in 1913 , Steiner spoke of the experience .
Speaking in the third person , he told his audience : “ from that time onward a soul-life began to develop in the boy which made him entirely conscious of worlds from which not only external trees or mountain speak @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Beings who live behind them… ” 3 What little we know of the Master is that he pointed out some passages in the work of Johann Gottlieb Fichte , one of Kant ’ s most important followers , which helped Steiner in his quest .
Fichte ’ s work focused on the centrality of the human ego , the “ I , ” the locus of consciousness and the self that scientific materialism argued was mere illusion .
Steiner ’ s spiritual experiences convinced him that this was palpably false and the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an illusion , was a concrete , irreducible reality .
For the next twenty years , until Steiner ’ s re-invention as a spiritual leader , his work would focus on developing a methodical epistemology proving this fact .
The single most important influence on his ideas , however , was the work of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe .
Goethe is best known for his drama Faust ( 1808-1832 ) , which takes a cautionary tale about a pact with the Devil and transforms it into an archetype of Western consciousness .
Although @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reputation among English speakers , Goethe is one of the Olympians of Western literature , sharing the top shelf with Plato , Dante and Shakespeare ( Jung too thought Goethe a key figure , even to the extent of sometimes believing he was an illegitimate descendent of the great man . )
Often regarded as the last true Renaissance man , Goethe was not just a giant of literature but also a statesman , traveller , and most important for Steiner , a scientist , making important contributions to botany , anatomy , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ literature tutor Karl Schröer , who opened his mind to Goethe ’ s importance , Steiner was offered what must have seemed the chance of a lifetime .
At twenty-two , he was head-hunted as the editor of Goethe ’ s scientific writings for a major edition of the polymath ’ s work .
For an unknown rural scholar to be offered such a position might seem unusual , but the general consensus on Goethe ’ s scientific musings at this point was that they were useless as science and dreary as literature @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wanted the job of editing them .
Aside from his early success in proving that the human upper jaw contained the intermaxillary bone found in other mammals – Goethe was , in a different way , an evolutionist long before Darwin – most scientists found Goethe ’ s attempts to disprove Newton ’ s theory of colour , or to demonstrate the existence of what he called the Urpflanze , the archetypal plant from which others emerged , muddleheaded if not insane .
Yet for Steiner , Goethe ’ s science was the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ phenomenology of the spirit worlds .
Instead of the conventional scientist ’ s cold , dispassionate eye regarding the world as mere matter , passive to his intrusions , Goethe called instead for “ objective imagination , ” an active participation in the reality under scrutiny .
The subjectivity of the scientist – his state of consciousness – was vastly more important than the increasingly hair-splitting exactitude provided by his instruments .
This “ objective imagination ” became for Steiner the basis for his own “ supersensible cognition.
” Steiner ’ s work @ @ @ @ @ @ @ led to Weimar , Goethe ’ s city , where he was asked to work on the Goethe Archive , another prestigious task .
Although Steiner found few congenial colleagues , the work had other compensations .
He was introduced to the city ’ s literary and cultural life and made many acquaintances .
One in particular led to a momentous meeting .
Elizabeth Forster Nietzsche , sister of the ill-fated philosopher , approached Steiner to work with her in establishing a Nietzsche Archive .
This led to Elizabeth introducing Steiner to her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ syphilis for several years .
Elizabeth had taken to dressing the defenceless Friedrich in a toga , and positioning him by the window , where his blank stare and unkempt appearance provided the impression of a great prophet .
Steiner , aware of Nietzsche ’ s madness , was nevertheless impressed – not with the figure before him , but with its spiritual aura .
He saw Nietzsche ’ s soul “ hovering over his head , infinitely beautiful in its spiritual sight… ” It was a soul that “ brought from former @ @ @ @ @ @ @ spirituality… ” 4 If mention of Nietzsche ’ s “ soul ” brimming with “ golden riches of great spirituality ” suggests to readers familiar with the author of Beyond Good and Evil and The Antichrist that Steiner was as ignorant of Nietzsche ’ s philosophy as his sister Elizabeth notoriously was , they should have a look at Steiner ’ s book Friedrich Nietzsche : Fighter for Freedom ( 1895 ) , a remarkable perceptive study which at times even reads like Nietzsche .
Throughout his career , Steiner had an uncanny @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ideas of thinkers with whom he had profound disagreements – like the staunch materialist Ernst Haeckel – a critical sympathy that often led to much misunderstanding .
When his work at Weimar was ending , rather than embark on academic career ( Steiner had received his doctorate in philosophy during his stay and could easily have found a comfortable niche somewhere ) , he decided instead to move to Berlin , home of Germany ’ s nascent avant-garde .
He had by this time published what many believe to be his most important @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 1894 ) , an exhilarating , if often difficult work of epistemology which Steiner believed established beyond doubt the reality of the human “ I.
” Others , like the influential philosopher Eduard von Hartmann , author of the once immensely popular The Philosophy of the Unconscious , were less convinced and suggested he had muddled the question .
Steiner , however , was undaunted and believed he had a mission to disseminate his ideas .
He also needed to find work .
Although his followers tend to see Steiner ’ s life @ @ @ @ @ @ @ destiny – and Steiner himself , we must admit , contributes to this belief – like the rest of us , he was looking for his place in the world and the means to get on in it .
He was also filled – rightly so – with the conviction of his own genius .
The literary and cultural world of Berlin might offer opportunities not available elsewhere .
Steiner , however , made the thoroughly impractical decision of buying a moribund periodical , The Magazine for Literature .
His previous brief catastrophic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a political magazine seemingly forgotten , Steiner proceeded to run the already failing Magazine for Literature into the ground , alienating its readers with his persistent exhortations regarding the spiritual life .
In the age of Strindberg , Wilde , Ibsen , Wedekind , and Shaw , Steiner ’ s idealism seemed a stale leftover from a forgotten time .
Yet , although he bemoaned the burden destiny had placed on him , Steiner seems to have enjoyed hobnobbing with bohemians : his acquaintances include poets , playwrights , novelists and political activists @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the demi-monde caused academics to cancel their subscriptions , and Steiner earned the unique distinction of being the one esoteric teacher – as far as I know – to have a periodical banned in Czarist Russia , because its editor was known to socialise with anarchists .
It was also in Berlin that Steiner married his first wife , although one gets the impression that the relationship with Anna Eunicke was little more than platonic .
Anna had been Steiner ’ s landlady in Weimar , and when he moved to Berlin she @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with her again , and , almost as an afterthought , married her in 1899 in a civil ceremony .
( It was in the Eunicke household in Weimar that Steiner had had one of his experiences with the death of a reclusive father . )
Anna , not particularly well-educated or cultured , was apparently very happy to have Herr Doctor Steiner under her roof ; Steiner , for his part , thus avoided the “ misery of living alone , ” as well as that of the cheap lodgings and bad @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Anna was ten years older than Rudolf , and their relationship raises the question of Steiner ’ s sexuality , of which there is no mention in the entire 406 pages of his Autobiography .
I do have it on the authority of one Steiner scholar , Christopher Bamford , that the Doctor was indeed celibate .
But it was in Berlin that Steiner ’ s real career began .
For a time he seemed willing to speak to any group who would listen to him .
He lectured on history and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ College , surreptitiously slipping large doses of Idealism to budding Marxist materialists .
He also lectured to the Giordano Bruno Society and The Coming Day , a quasi-Nietzschean cultural group .
He managed , however , to alienate all of this ( as well as Anna Eunicke , whom he soon left ) when he accepted a request to lecture to the Berlin Theosophical Society .
For years , Steiner had tried to express his insights into the spiritual worlds under the cover of philosopher .
Now , at the turn of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he decided to forgo the camouflage and speak directly of his experiences .
Steiner quickly rose to prominence among the Theosophists and was soon made head of the society ’ s branch .
One member of his audience was particularly struck .
Marie von Sivers , who became Steiner ’ s second wife in 1914 , was a Baltic Russian actress .
She asked if it weren ’ t time for a new spiritual movement to arise in Europe .
More to the point , didn ’ t Steiner think he should lead @ @ @ @ @ @ @ insisted that any such movement would be firmly based on Western esoteric sources .
Steiner had recently passed through a spiritual crisis which convinced him that the “ Christ event ” was the single most important incident in human history .
He had no time for “ Eastern wisdom ” or mystic Mahatmas .
He more or less adopted the cosmic evolutionary framework of Madame Blavatsky ’ s Secret Doctrine and informed it with large helpings of German Idealist philosophy and Christian mysticism , developing a peculiarly idiosyncratic neo-Rosicrucian system of esoteric thought @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Akashic Record .
In light of this it ’ s difficult to ignore the occult historian James Webb ’ s remark that Steiner joined the Theosophical Society in order to take it over .
His relationship to the society was rocky , and in 1913 he and its head , the ex-Fabian Annie Besant , came to rhetorical blows over C.W .
Leadbeater ’ s advocacy of the Indian boy Krishnamurti as the second coming of Christ .
Steiner was disgusted at the idea , and even more so at Leadbeater ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Besant ’ s resignation ; she retaliated by ex-communicating him .
Steiner left with much of his flock – by this time several thousand – and started his own group , the Anthroposophical Society .
As opposed to Theosophy , which spoke of the wisdom of the gods , anthroposophy was concerned with the wisdom of the human being .
Practically the first thing Steiner did was to build a temple for his new movement .
Land was secured in Dornach , Switzerland , and during WWI Steiner gathered a community of followers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Goetheanum , a weirdly beautiful fusion of art nouveau and Expressionist architecture that Steiner himself designed .
His lecturing was curtailed by the fighting , but his greatest popularity came with the war ’ s end .
Steiner ’ s plan to reconstruct Europe , The Threefold Commonwealth ( 1922 ) , sold some 80,000 copies in its first edition , and audiences for his public appearances were now in the thousands ; on one occasion the crowds outside a Berlin auditorium were so great they stopped traffic .
This period , however @ @ @ @ @ @ @ anti-Steiner campaign that would plague him henceforth .
Practically everybody hated him : Catholics , Protestants , Marxists , proto-Nazis , not to mention other esotericists .
There were at least two attempts on his life , and the number of occult attacks fomented by the “ black brotherhoods ” is unknown .
One clear victory from this time was the establishment of the first Steiner school in Stuttgart in 1919 .
Based on pedagogical principles developed over decades of tutoring – in Vienna he had cured a retarded hydrocephalic boy to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a medical degree – Steiner ’ s educational ideas earned him deserved renown , and an international reputation among experts that continues today .
Steiner endured vilification in the press and disruption at his lectures with equanimity , but one victim of the attacks was , many believe , the Goetheanum , which burned to the ground on New Year ’ s Eve 1922 .
Arson by right-wing proto-Nazis is the common assumption , although an electrical fault remains a possibility .
In any case , a decade ’ s effort , not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lost overnight : the building was made of the same wood as that used in making violins and burned fiercely .
Steiner took the tragedy as a sign that some changes in the society were necessary .
His original occult teachings , based on the idea of an evolution of consciousness and the ability to achieve “ supersensible thinking , ” were , he felt , obscured by the success of subsequent initiatives .
Steiner education , the Christian Community ( a religious group using Steiner ’ s ideas ) , the Threefold @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a form of what he called “ visible speech ” – and newer developments like bio-dynamic farming and anthroposophical medicine were taking centre stage .
Steiner had attracted many younger followers after the war , eager to rebuild society , and these clashed with his older , more esoterically inclined devotees .
Bickering within the Anthroposophical Society , whose numbers had swollen in the post-war years , threatened to undo much that had been achieved .
On the first anniversary of the Goetheanum ’ s destruction , Steiner announced plans for a second @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , defiantly made of concrete .
He also told his followers that he was reconstructing the society as well .
Although he had not previously even been a member of the society , remaining only its spiritual guide and adviser , he now declared himself president of the newly formed General Anthroposophical Society which , although most successful in Germany , today has branches around the world .
Steiner ’ s last years were spent in sowing as many seeds as possible for future work ; they were also darkened by his belief @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the archangel Michael , overseer of the current stage of human consciousness , would face off against the power of Ahriman , a spiritual being who seeks to prevent humanity ’ s development .
Steiner spoke ominously of the incarnation of Ahriman , an Antichrist-like figure , whose display of miraculous powers would precede a catastrophic “ war of all against all.
” Steiner believed this unavoidable destiny would take some time to unfold – Ahriman is scheduled to arrive in the 3000s – yet many of his followers suspect that in recent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Steiner himself had grave doubts about the growing pace of technological development , warning his followers that materialist science gains its great power through unwittingly releasing Ahrimanic entities .
In his last communications , Steiner called on his followers to develop their consciousness in order to rise above nature to the same extent that technology sank below it .
He also gave series of lectures about karma and its work in human history .
Steiner died on 30 March 1925 .
He had been ill for at least a year with an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ some speculation he had been poisoned .
He continued lecturing until it was physically impossible for him to do so , and his followers were astounded when , on the evening of his last scheduled lecture , they found a note saying that it had to be cancelled because of the Doctor ’ s health .
Nothing like this had ever happened before .
The Doctor , they believed , was invulnerable .
The exact nature of Steiner ’ s illness remains unknown , but it is clear that his inability to refuse @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was a key factor .
Along with his public and private lectures , and his practical work as a teacher , architect , and agriculturalist , Steiner made himself available to any who needed his counsel .
For many years , he had practically no free time , and wherever he went his hotel room saw a constant stream of visitors including , on one occasion , Franz Kafka .
Some asked about their astral bodies ; others their diet or their marriages ; Kafka asked about his writing .
Steiner advised them @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to thousands .
He was , as the Russian novelist Andrei Biely , a follower , once remarked , “ a giant of the power of kindness.
” 5 It ’ s not hard to see how such solicitude would eventually wear anyone down .
In the end , it ’ s difficult to give an exact assessment of a man whose work combines cogent criticisms of Kant with accounts of life in Atlantis .
But this “ mild , gentle , good , kindly man , ” whose achievement in “ humanitarian @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as the psychiatrist Anthony Storr wrote of Steiner in his study of gurus , Feet of Clay , remains , for devotees and non-initiate alike , something of an enigma .
GARY LACHMAN is a former student of Gurdjieff ’ s Fourth Way , as well as a counterculture expert .
In 2001 he published his first book , Turn Off Your Mind : The Mystic Sixties and the Dark Side of the Age of Aquarius , a history of the 1960s occult counterculture .
During the 1980s , Lachman avidly studied philosophy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and esotericism .
His public figure rose in the late 1970s as he toured with pop rock group Blondie .
In March 2006 , he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for his outstanding work with Blondie .
Lachman became a full-time writer in 1996 , when he moved to London .
His books include A Dark Muse : A History of the Occult and A Secret History of Consciousness , In Search of P.D .
Ouspensky : The Genius in the Shadow of Gurdjieff ( Quest Books , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : The Left , the Right , and the Radically Unseen , Jung The Mystic : The Esoteric Dimensions of Carl Jung ’ s Life and Teachings and Madame Blavatsky : The Mother of Modern Spirituality .
3 .
Quoted in Colin Wilson , Rudolf Steiner : The Man and his Vision , Aquarian Press , 1985 .
38 If you appreciate this article , please consider a digital subscription to New Dawn .
The above article appeared in New Dawn 171 ( Nov-Dec 2018 )

Rudolf Steiner: Dweller On The Threshold
Gary Lachman, New Dawn
Waking Times
The most enigmatic figure to emerge from the “occult revival” of the early twentieth century was also the most successful, the Austrian “spiritual scientist” Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925). Although many of his contemporaries were outwardly more eccentric – think of Madame Blavatsky, Gurdjieff or Aleister Crowley – it’s precisely Steiner’s sobriety that is so striking, making him seem somewhat out of place in the often flamboyant world of the esoteric.
We generally associate ideas of the occult, higher consciousness and spiritual worlds with exotic, extraordinary characters with something of the trickster about them; Blavatsky, Gurdjieff and Crowley would certainly fall into this category. Steiner was precisely the opposite. Standing at the lectern with his pince-nez in hand, he projected an image of irreproachable rectitude. Steiner was earnestness incarnate, his one gesture of bohemian extravagance the flowing bow ties he was fond of wearing, a remnant of his early student days. Where Blavatsky, Gurdjieff and Crowley each took pains to present a formidable self-image, there was something simple and peasant-like about Steiner. Combined with this wholesomeness was an encyclopedic erudition. If we were to use an archetype to describe Steiner, it would have to be that of “the Professor” – or more precisely, “the Doctor,” as he was known by those around him. Commenting on her magnum opus, The Secret Doctrine, Madame Blavatsky once remarked that she “wrote, wrote, wrote” like the Wandering Jew “walks, walks, walks.” Steiner too wrote a great deal, but his main mode of disseminating his ideas was lecturing, and in the years between 1900 and 1925, he lectured, lectured, lectured, delivering more than 6,000 talks across Europe.
In a dry and often pedantic style, Steiner informed his audience of the results of his spiritual research, his “supersensible” readings of the occult history of the world made available to him through what is called “the Akashic Record.” In matter-of-facts terms, he introduced them to his teaching, Anthroposophy, telling them along the way about ancient Atlantis, life after death, astral and etheric bodies, the true meaning of Christianity and much, much more. Yet this humble, self-effacing character became one of the most influential, and simultaneously vilified, forces in the spiritual and cultural life of early twentieth century Europe, and his ideas are still relevant today.
Steiner’s efforts to lead “the Spiritual in the human being to the Spiritual in the Universe” have produced remarkably concrete results. Since his death, more than 1,000 schools around the world work with Steiner’s pedagogical principles, not to mention the many special-needs schools, working along lines developed by Steiner a century ago. There are also the hundreds of “bio-dynamic” farms, employing Steiner’s agricultural insights, developed decades in advance of our interest in ecology and organic foods. The practical application of Steiner’s ideas had also informed very successful avenues in holistic healing, the arts, architecture, economics, religion and other areas.
Given these achievements in the “real world,” which certainly exceed those of other esoteric teachers, why isn’t Steiner better known? You would reasonably expect the average educated person to have some idea of who, say, Jung is, or Krishnamurti, or the Dalai Lama; possibly even Blavatsky, Gurdjieff or Crowley. But Steiner? He remains something of a mystery, a name associated with a handful of different disciplines and endeavours, but not solidly linked to any one thing. He remains, as one of his most eloquent apologists, the Inkling Owen Barfield, called him “the best kept secret of the twentieth century.” It’s certainly time that he was better known.
Rudolf Steiner was born on 27 February 1861, in the small rural town of Kraljevec in what was then Hungary but is today part of Croatia. His father was a telegraph operator for the Southern Austrian Railway, and Steiner spent his first years amidst magnificent scenery: mountain ranges and green plains were his playgrounds. Steiner felt that it was significant that he grew up in a part of Europe where East meets West, as it was also significant that childhood had an equal measure of natural beauty and modern technology – at the time, both the railways and the telegraph were relatively new innovations.
In Knowledge of the Higher Worlds and its Attainment (1905), Steiner relates that a crucial experience on the path of higher consciousness is an encounter with the Guardian of the Threshold, a spiritual being embodying one’s unredeemed karma. Well before his career as an esoteric teacher, Steiner was himself a dweller on several thresholds, having one foot in the mysteries of nature, the other in the methodology of science. It was this combination of mystic visionary and disciplined thinker that gave Steiner’s later career its peculiar character.
When Steiner was eight, his father was transferred to Neudörfl, near the border with Lower Austria. An argument with the local teacher led his father to educate the boy himself, and this meant that he spent a great deal of time on his own at the railway station where his father worked. Young Steiner was deeply introverted; as he admits in his Autobiography (1925), he had great difficulty relating to the outer world. He also had an inquisitive mind and was obsessed with many questions the adults he knew seemed unable to answer. This subjectivity might have taken a morbid turn were it not for his discovery of mathematics. When Steiner came upon a book of geometry, it was a revelation. “That one can work out forms which are seen purely inwardly, independent of the outer senses, gave me a feeling of deep contentment. I found consolation for the loneliness caused by the many unanswered questions. To be able to grasp something purely spiritual brought me an inner joy. I know that through geometry I first experienced happiness.”1
Steiner’s joy upon discovering geometry may strike us as odd, yet the experience was essential in getting him through an early crisis. What impressed Steiner so greatly about geometry was that it seemed to offer proof that within the mind there existed a kind of “soul space,” an inner equivalent of the external space of the natural world. The soul space was “the setting for spiritual beings and events.” Thoughts for the young Steiner were not “mere pictures we form of things”; they were rather the “revelations of a spiritual world seen on the stage of the soul.” Geometry, Steiner believed, although produced by the human mind, had an objective reality independent of it, and for him this meant that the soul space in which it was revealed was also real.2
Rather precocious stuff, perhaps, but Steiner’s early years included an event that made him question the outer world’s monopoly on reality.
A Paranormal Encounter
One day at the railway station, he had a paranormal experience, an early manifestation of his psychic abilities. Sitting in the waiting room, he saw a strange woman enter; although he didn’t know her, he felt she resembled other members of his family. Standing in the middle of the room, the woman spoke to the boy. “Try to help me as much as you can – now as well as in later life,” she said. Then she walked into the stove and disappeared. Steiner decided not to tell his parents, afraid that they would scold him for lying. But he noticed that his father was sad, and he later discovered that a female relative who lived in the neighbouring town had committed suicide at the same time that he had had his vision.
This early experience marks for Steiner the beginning of a life-long involvement with the dead. Much of his later esoteric teaching involves accounts of the soul’s experiences in the afterlife and of the machinery of karma and reincarnation, the balancing of the spiritual books that casts the departed back into the stream of life in order to complete their tasks. While other boys of his age were fantasising about the Austrian equivalent of cowboys and Indians, Steiner was preoccupied with the reality of the spirit worlds and the soul’s encounter with the beings that inhabit them.
Later, as a young man, Steiner would on two occasions have unusual opportunities to verify some of his ideas about the meaning of death. Twice he would come into intimate contact with families in which the father was a recluse who would die soon after Steiner made their acquaintance. Yet on both occasions, although never actually meeting the man, Steiner formed a profound intuitive relation with the deceased, so deep and insightful in fact that he was asked by both families to give the funeral orations. Later still, during his years as an esoteric teacher, Steiner informed his followers that one means of helping the dead in their spiritual journeys was to read to them from his writings.
When Steiner was eighteen, his father was transferred once again, this time to Inzersdorf. His new location had the advantage of being close to Vienna, and it was decided that Steiner would study at the Technical School there. Although he had leanings toward literature and philosophy, he chose instead to work towards becoming a science teacher.
One day on the train to Vienna, he met a man who would have a profound influence on his life. Felix Koguzki was a herb-gatherer who travelled to Vienna regularly to sell his wares. It’s not known how they fell into conversation, but the teenaged Steiner soon discovered that this simple, uneducated man had strange experiences like his own, and a deep, personal knowledge of the other worlds. He was the first person with whom he could speak about his spiritual visions, and their talks boosted Steiner’s confidence; more than likely, they also convinced him that he wasn’t crazy.
Meeting a Master
Around the same time, Steiner had an encounter with another individual whose name has not come down to us. Steiner refers to him only as “the Master.” The French writer Edouard Schuré, author of the bestselling The Great Initiates (1889), and later a friend and follower of Steiner, remarked that the Master was “one of those potent personalities who are on Earth to fulfil a mission under the mask of some homely occupation.” Steiner had by this time read widely in philosophy, specifically the German Idealists, and had worked his way through Hegel, Schelling and several others, absorbing Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason during his history class, which bored him. Steiner was obsessed, then and later, with refuting scientific materialism, and this became the impulse that drove his philosophical studies.
Although he doesn’t mention this episode in his Autobiography, in a lecture given in Berlin in 1913, Steiner spoke of the experience. Speaking in the third person, he told his audience: “from that time onward a soul-life began to develop in the boy which made him entirely conscious of worlds from which not only external trees or mountain speak to the human soul, but also the Beings who live behind them…”3
What little we know of the Master is that he pointed out some passages in the work of Johann Gottlieb Fichte, one of Kant’s most important followers, which helped Steiner in his quest. Fichte’s work focused on the centrality of the human ego, the “I,” the locus of consciousness and the self that scientific materialism argued was mere illusion. Steiner’s spiritual experiences convinced him that this was palpably false and the “I,” rather than being an illusion, was a concrete, irreducible reality. For the next twenty years, until Steiner’s re-invention as a spiritual leader, his work would focus on developing a methodical epistemology proving this fact.
Introduction to Goethe
The single most important influence on his ideas, however, was the work of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Goethe is best known for his drama Faust (1808-1832), which takes a cautionary tale about a pact with the Devil and transforms it into an archetype of Western consciousness. Although he’s never enjoyed the same reputation among English speakers, Goethe is one of the Olympians of Western literature, sharing the top shelf with Plato, Dante and Shakespeare (Jung too thought Goethe a key figure, even to the extent of sometimes believing he was an illegitimate descendent of the great man.) Often regarded as the last true Renaissance man, Goethe was not just a giant of literature but also a statesman, traveller, and most important for Steiner, a scientist, making important contributions to botany, anatomy, mineralogy, and optics. Through his literature tutor Karl Schröer, who opened his mind to Goethe’s importance, Steiner was offered what must have seemed the chance of a lifetime. At twenty-two, he was head-hunted as the editor of Goethe’s scientific writings for a major edition of the polymath’s work.
For an unknown rural scholar to be offered such a position might seem unusual, but the general consensus on Goethe’s scientific musings at this point was that they were useless as science and dreary as literature; in truth, no one else wanted the job of editing them. Aside from his early success in proving that the human upper jaw contained the intermaxillary bone found in other mammals – Goethe was, in a different way, an evolutionist long before Darwin – most scientists found Goethe’s attempts to disprove Newton’s theory of colour, or to demonstrate the existence of what he called the Urpflanze, the archetypal plant from which others emerged, muddleheaded if not insane.
Yet for Steiner, Goethe’s science was the prototype for what would become his own phenomenology of the spirit worlds. Instead of the conventional scientist’s cold, dispassionate eye regarding the world as mere matter, passive to his intrusions, Goethe called instead for “objective imagination,” an active participation in the reality under scrutiny. The subjectivity of the scientist – his state of consciousness – was vastly more important than the increasingly hair-splitting exactitude provided by his instruments. This “objective imagination” became for Steiner the basis for his own “supersensible cognition.”
Encountering Nietzsche
Steiner’s work on Goethe opened many doors. One led to Weimar, Goethe’s city, where he was asked to work on the Goethe Archive, another prestigious task. Although Steiner found few congenial colleagues, the work had other compensations. He was introduced to the city’s literary and cultural life and made many acquaintances. One in particular led to a momentous meeting. Elizabeth Forster Nietzsche, sister of the ill-fated philosopher, approached Steiner to work with her in establishing a Nietzsche Archive. This led to Elizabeth introducing Steiner to her brother, who had been insane from syphilis for several years. Elizabeth had taken to dressing the defenceless Friedrich in a toga, and positioning him by the window, where his blank stare and unkempt appearance provided the impression of a great prophet. Steiner, aware of Nietzsche’s madness, was nevertheless impressed – not with the figure before him, but with its spiritual aura. He saw Nietzsche’s soul “hovering over his head, infinitely beautiful in its spiritual sight…” It was a soul that “brought from former lives on Earth golden riches of great spirituality…”4
If mention of Nietzsche’s “soul” brimming with “golden riches of great spirituality” suggests to readers familiar with the author of Beyond Good and Evil and The Antichrist that Steiner was as ignorant of Nietzsche’s philosophy as his sister Elizabeth notoriously was, they should have a look at Steiner’s book Friedrich Nietzsche: Fighter for Freedom (1895), a remarkable perceptive study which at times even reads like Nietzsche. Throughout his career, Steiner had an uncanny knack for entering into and defending the ideas of thinkers with whom he had profound disagreements – like the staunch materialist Ernst Haeckel – a critical sympathy that often led to much misunderstanding.
When his work at Weimar was ending, rather than embark on academic career (Steiner had received his doctorate in philosophy during his stay and could easily have found a comfortable niche somewhere), he decided instead to move to Berlin, home of Germany’s nascent avant-garde. He had by this time published what many believe to be his most important book, The Philosophy of Freedom (1894), an exhilarating, if often difficult work of epistemology which Steiner believed established beyond doubt the reality of the human “I.” Others, like the influential philosopher Eduard von Hartmann, author of the once immensely popular The Philosophy of the Unconscious, were less convinced and suggested he had muddled the question. Steiner, however, was undaunted and believed he had a mission to disseminate his ideas. He also needed to find work. Although his followers tend to see Steiner’s life as the undeviating unfolding of a pre-ordained destiny – and Steiner himself, we must admit, contributes to this belief – like the rest of us, he was looking for his place in the world and the means to get on in it. He was also filled – rightly so – with the conviction of his own genius. The literary and cultural world of Berlin might offer opportunities not available elsewhere.
Steiner, however, made the thoroughly impractical decision of buying a moribund periodical, The Magazine for Literature. His previous brief catastrophic experience in Vienna as an editor of a political magazine seemingly forgotten, Steiner proceeded to run the already failing Magazine for Literature into the ground, alienating its readers with his persistent exhortations regarding the spiritual life. In the age of Strindberg, Wilde, Ibsen, Wedekind, and Shaw, Steiner’s idealism seemed a stale leftover from a forgotten time.
Yet, although he bemoaned the burden destiny had placed on him, Steiner seems to have enjoyed hobnobbing with bohemians: his acquaintances include poets, playwrights, novelists and political activists. In fact, his reputation among the demi-monde caused academics to cancel their subscriptions, and Steiner earned the unique distinction of being the one esoteric teacher – as far as I know – to have a periodical banned in Czarist Russia, because its editor was known to socialise with anarchists.
It was also in Berlin that Steiner married his first wife, although one gets the impression that the relationship with Anna Eunicke was little more than platonic. Anna had been Steiner’s landlady in Weimar, and when he moved to Berlin she followed him. There he moved in with her again, and, almost as an afterthought, married her in 1899 in a civil ceremony. (It was in the Eunicke household in Weimar that Steiner had had one of his experiences with the death of a reclusive father.) Anna, not particularly well-educated or cultured, was apparently very happy to have Herr Doctor Steiner under her roof; Steiner, for his part, thus avoided the “misery of living alone,” as well as that of the cheap lodgings and bad food he had endured up till then. Anna was ten years older than Rudolf, and their relationship raises the question of Steiner’s sexuality, of which there is no mention in the entire 406 pages of his Autobiography. I do have it on the authority of one Steiner scholar, Christopher Bamford, that the Doctor was indeed celibate.
Berlin & Theosophy
But it was in Berlin that Steiner’s real career began. For a time he seemed willing to speak to any group who would listen to him. He lectured on history and other subjects at the Workingman’s College, surreptitiously slipping large doses of Idealism to budding Marxist materialists. He also lectured to the Giordano Bruno Society and The Coming Day, a quasi-Nietzschean cultural group. He managed, however, to alienate all of this (as well as Anna Eunicke, whom he soon left) when he accepted a request to lecture to the Berlin Theosophical Society. For years, Steiner had tried to express his insights into the spiritual worlds under the cover of philosopher. Now, at the turn of the century and the age of forty, he decided to forgo the camouflage and speak directly of his experiences.
Steiner quickly rose to prominence among the Theosophists and was soon made head of the society’s branch. One member of his audience was particularly struck. Marie von Sivers, who became Steiner’s second wife in 1914, was a Baltic Russian actress. She asked if it weren’t time for a new spiritual movement to arise in Europe. More to the point, didn’t Steiner think he should lead it? Steiner did, but he insisted that any such movement would be firmly based on Western esoteric sources. Steiner had recently passed through a spiritual crisis which convinced him that the “Christ event” was the single most important incident in human history. He had no time for “Eastern wisdom” or mystic Mahatmas. He more or less adopted the cosmic evolutionary framework of Madame Blavatsky’s Secret Doctrine and informed it with large helpings of German Idealist philosophy and Christian mysticism, developing a peculiarly idiosyncratic neo-Rosicrucian system of esoteric thought, aided by his own readings of the Akashic Record. In light of this it’s difficult to ignore the occult historian James Webb’s remark that Steiner joined the Theosophical Society in order to take it over.
His relationship to the society was rocky, and in 1913 he and its head, the ex-Fabian Annie Besant, came to rhetorical blows over C.W. Leadbeater’s advocacy of the Indian boy Krishnamurti as the second coming of Christ. Steiner was disgusted at the idea, and even more so at Leadbeater’s known paedophilic predilections. He demanded Besant’s resignation; she retaliated by ex-communicating him. Steiner left with much of his flock – by this time several thousand – and started his own group, the Anthroposophical Society. As opposed to Theosophy, which spoke of the wisdom of the gods, anthroposophy was concerned with the wisdom of the human being.
Building a New Movement & the Goetheanum
Practically the first thing Steiner did was to build a temple for his new movement. Land was secured in Dornach, Switzerland, and during WWI Steiner gathered a community of followers from several different countries to construct the Goetheanum, a weirdly beautiful fusion of art nouveau and Expressionist architecture that Steiner himself designed. His lecturing was curtailed by the fighting, but his greatest popularity came with the war’s end. Steiner’s plan to reconstruct Europe, The Threefold Commonwealth (1922), sold some 80,000 copies in its first edition, and audiences for his public appearances were now in the thousands; on one occasion the crowds outside a Berlin auditorium were so great they stopped traffic.
This period, however, also saw the start of the anti-Steiner campaign that would plague him henceforth. Practically everybody hated him: Catholics, Protestants, Marxists, proto-Nazis, not to mention other esotericists. There were at least two attempts on his life, and the number of occult attacks fomented by the “black brotherhoods” is unknown. One clear victory from this time was the establishment of the first Steiner school in Stuttgart in 1919. Based on pedagogical principles developed over decades of tutoring – in Vienna he had cured a retarded hydrocephalic boy to the extent that child grew up to earn a medical degree – Steiner’s educational ideas earned him deserved renown, and an international reputation among experts that continues today.
Steiner endured vilification in the press and disruption at his lectures with equanimity, but one victim of the attacks was, many believe, the Goetheanum, which burned to the ground on New Year’s Eve 1922. Arson by right-wing proto-Nazis is the common assumption, although an electrical fault remains a possibility. In any case, a decade’s effort, not to mention an architectural wonder, was lost overnight: the building was made of the same wood as that used in making violins and burned fiercely. Steiner took the tragedy as a sign that some changes in the society were necessary. His original occult teachings, based on the idea of an evolution of consciousness and the ability to achieve “supersensible thinking,” were, he felt, obscured by the success of subsequent initiatives.
Steiner education, the Christian Community (a religious group using Steiner’s ideas), the Threefold Movement for social change, eurythmy – a form of what he called “visible speech” – and newer developments like bio-dynamic farming and anthroposophical medicine were taking centre stage. Steiner had attracted many younger followers after the war, eager to rebuild society, and these clashed with his older, more esoterically inclined devotees. Bickering within the Anthroposophical Society, whose numbers had swollen in the post-war years, threatened to undo much that had been achieved. On the first anniversary of the Goetheanum’s destruction, Steiner announced plans for a second temple; it stands today in Dornach, defiantly made of concrete. He also told his followers that he was reconstructing the society as well. Although he had not previously even been a member of the society, remaining only its spiritual guide and adviser, he now declared himself president of the newly formed General Anthroposophical Society which, although most successful in Germany, today has branches around the world.
Ahriman & Coming World Inferno
Steiner’s last years were spent in sowing as many seeds as possible for future work; they were also darkened by his belief in a coming world conflagration, when the archangel Michael, overseer of the current stage of human consciousness, would face off against the power of Ahriman, a spiritual being who seeks to prevent humanity’s development. Steiner spoke ominously of the incarnation of Ahriman, an Antichrist-like figure, whose display of miraculous powers would precede a catastrophic “war of all against all.” Steiner believed this unavoidable destiny would take some time to unfold – Ahriman is scheduled to arrive in the 3000s – yet many of his followers suspect that in recent years the process has been speeded up. Steiner himself had grave doubts about the growing pace of technological development, warning his followers that materialist science gains its great power through unwittingly releasing Ahrimanic entities. In his last communications, Steiner called on his followers to develop their consciousness in order to rise above nature to the same extent that technology sank below it. He also gave series of lectures about karma and its work in human history.
Steiner died on 30 March 1925. He had been ill for at least a year with an undisclosed stomach ailment, although there is some speculation he had been poisoned. He continued lecturing until it was physically impossible for him to do so, and his followers were astounded when, on the evening of his last scheduled lecture, they found a note saying that it had to be cancelled because of the Doctor’s health. Nothing like this had ever happened before. The Doctor, they believed, was invulnerable.
The exact nature of Steiner’s illness remains unknown, but it is clear that his inability to refuse help to those who came to him was a key factor. Along with his public and private lectures, and his practical work as a teacher, architect, and agriculturalist, Steiner made himself available to any who needed his counsel. For many years, he had practically no free time, and wherever he went his hotel room saw a constant stream of visitors including, on one occasion, Franz Kafka. Some asked about their astral bodies; others their diet or their marriages; Kafka asked about his writing. Steiner advised them all, giving little bits of himself to thousands. He was, as the Russian novelist Andrei Biely, a follower, once remarked, “a giant of the power of kindness.”5 It’s not hard to see how such solicitude would eventually wear anyone down.
In the end, it’s difficult to give an exact assessment of a man whose work combines cogent criticisms of Kant with accounts of life in Atlantis. But this “mild, gentle, good, kindly man,” whose achievement in “humanitarian terms is remarkable and enduring,” as the psychiatrist Anthony Storr wrote of Steiner in his study of gurus, Feet of Clay, remains, for devotees and non-initiate alike, something of an enigma.
About the Author
GARY LACHMAN is a former student of Gurdjieff’s Fourth Way, as well as a counterculture expert. In 2001 he published his first book, Turn Off Your Mind: The Mystic Sixties and the Dark Side of the Age of Aquarius, a history of the 1960s occult counterculture. During the 1980s, Lachman avidly studied philosophy, psychology, history, science, and esotericism. His public figure rose in the late 1970s as he toured with pop rock group Blondie. In March 2006, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for his outstanding work with Blondie. Lachman became a full-time writer in 1996, when he moved to London. His books include A Dark Muse: A History of the Occult and A Secret History of Consciousness, In Search of P.D. Ouspensky: The Genius in the Shadow of Gurdjieff (Quest Books, 2004), Politics and the Occult: The Left, the Right, and the Radically Unseen, Jung The Mystic: The Esoteric Dimensions of Carl Jung’s Life and Teachings and Madame Blavatsky: The Mother of Modern Spirituality.
FOOTNOTES
1. Rudolf Steiner, Autobiography, Rudolf Steiner Publications, 1977, 28
2. Ibid, 28-29.
3. Quoted in Colin Wilson, Rudolf Steiner: The Man and his Vision, Aquarian Press, 1985. 38
4. Steiner, Autobiography, 223
5. Andrei Biely, Reminiscences of Rudolf Steiner, Adonis Press, 1987, 8
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The above article appeared in New Dawn 171 (Nov-Dec 2018)