The Rudolf Steiner Archive

A much-cited American coined the phrase some time ago: No one is irreplaceable here on earth. This testifies that everyone can be fully replaced by another in relation to their position immediately after their death. It must be said: how miserable a world of ideas can be, when it can lead to such thoughts and feelings. Those who, from the foundations that can be built from a more intense feeling for the human context of life, face the mystery of death, will actively feel the opposite feeling in their soul.

We have been looking back on the deaths of dear friends, deaths that have touched our hearts, very deeply, for the relatively short existence of our anthroposophical spiritual movement. We have seen friends pass through the gate of death who were allowed to live their lives through, as they say, a normal number of decades on earth, and we have seen young friends pass through the gate of death. In the quiet peace of a calm environment, the one has gone; the storms of today's world have also torn many, many souls from our ranks, others have passed away from the storm-tossed life through the gate of death. And as we cast a sensitive glance at the passing of our dear friends, so will we undoubtedly, especially on this day, which so painfully reminds us that we have already been conducting our work for a year without our dear, precious Sophie Stinde here on the physical plane, so will we undoubtedly, especially on this day, the other word, the other feeling will struggle out of the depths of our souls: For the physical plane, every human being who passes through the gate of death is irreplaceable. And even if it often seems otherwise to the superficial eye, one need only look at the souls of those who were karmically connected with the dead in one way or another, and one will realize that each one is irreplaceable.

While we would do well to take such words to heart, we look up to the spiritual world into which the dead person enters through the gate of death. We look up to this spiritual world as we may look up when not only does our soul come alive to that which spiritual science can give us, but when our being itself becomes active life in the spiritual science. Do we not already know comparatively from our physical life that we can only understand, really understand, that being in whose own existence we carry something akin, something echoing? Understanding of a being is only possible if something lives in us that also lives in the other being. We acquire the concepts and ideas of how alive a person's life is and how that person's life remains alive when he passes through the gate of death. But we should also endeavor to make the concepts and ideas that spiritual science gives us more and more alive in our souls. For only in this way does something enter into the life of our souls that also lives in the souls of those who have shed their physical shells and live in the spiritual world itself with an unclouded view through physical organs. And we shall gradually learn what it means to develop understanding for our dear departed if we make spiritual science the living source in our own soul, for the essence then becomes part of our own being, which is the element of life for them, the dead. No longer, when we acquire an understanding of their life element, do they then need to look over at the souls, at the hearts that they have left behind here, so that they must perceive: Oh these souls, oh these hearts down there, they lack the understanding that they must have when they look up at us with a look that we can answer them! Just as one can only get to know a being here on the physical plane if one is able to delve into its world, so we can only be in understanding with our dead if we have an inner life in the conceptions of those worlds in which they find themselves.

This, my dear friends, seems to me – and not only to me – to be a reminder from those dead to whom we look with love, who have risen from our ranks into the spiritual worlds, a reminder from them, because they now know from their own experience what it means for the whole world when people recognize the nature of the spiritual worlds. And we may indeed have progressed so far in our study of spiritual science that we hear our souls speaking with urgent words the words spoken to us from the spiritual worlds by our dear dead: “Recognize the spiritual world!” For among the many things that will come of this for humanity is that the dead and the living will be able to form a unity.

I know that we think in the spirit of many of our dear departed, especially in the spirit of Sophie Stinde, as she is thinking now, when we write this admonition into our souls today, and when we add so many other thoughts that can now become us, if we take in all seriousness and in full depth what spiritual science is supposed to be for us.

Perhaps I may refer to the fact that it has often been my duty to speak about the obligation to love in view of the recent death of dear departed members of our movement at their funeral or cremation. I may say: Such moments bring the thought particularly to mind, what it means to speak words under the kind of responsibility that arises when it is known: Not only in general is there a spiritual world, but in the concrete, the one with whom you have worked here to affirm the existence and nature of spiritual worlds looks down on you. To bear witness to the truth in such moments and in the moments that arise from them, to be aware of the community in this truth between the living and the dead, that is one of the heart and soul achievements of the spiritual scientific world view, belongs to that which flows through the spiritual-scientific movement from the livingly felt mystery of death. And we, my dear friends, may all, all be permeated by this feeling, by the feeling of our community, which we cultivate here as living beings in the physical body with the living who have passed through the gate of death, with the living in the light of the spiritual world and in spiritual life. And when we develop the feeling of that responsibility towards the knowledge of the spiritual worlds, which arises from the consciousness: Here we commemorate the spiritual world, and there are the spiritual eyes that look down and examine how we stand in relation to the truth of the world, there are the spiritual ears that listen to whether truth or lie dwells in our hearts, — if we develop this feeling in concrete community with those who have worked side by side with us here and who now continue to work with us with the currents of our soul, then, then the spiritual-scientific worldview, the spiritual-scientific movement, will become that living thing that builds the bridge between worlds, between those in our time and the eternal future, between which no bridge can be built in any other way.

And when we develop such feelings, when we truly awaken such feelings in our souls, then we also feel the karmic connection in a special way when we have been close to someone who has passed through the gateway of death in one way or another. And then, through those subtle, fine revelations that always exist between the spiritual world and our souls, we gradually learn to sense them — the voices of our dead, especially those who were karmically connected to us in a very special way. We experience them in the way just described, by directing our thoughts to them and, in the inner soul atmosphere and soul aura that which these thoughts convey to us, in a perhaps quiet, quite intimate, but nevertheless gradually perceptible way, we sense how they live on in us, those who have passed through the gateway of death, how they live with us, how they participate in our destiny, but how at the same time they give their strength to everything that is perhaps best in ourselves and can become of us in the working of the world. And so, starting from such feelings and thoughts, it becomes more and more possible for us to transform the abstract feelings towards death, which must become more and more widespread in our materialistic time, back into vividly concrete ones, to be allowed to be together spiritually and soulfully with those who have left us as physical personalities for a while, until we follow them through the gate of death. And perhaps it is a message from our dead to us when I say that we should be aware of the invigoration of earthly existence beyond the concept of death in the direction of the sanctification of this earthly existence, in that we take spiritual science with the seriousness that is necessary when we feel: Our dead are watching us, hearing our most intimate thoughts and our true or false presence in the realizations of spiritual science.

It feels like a message from the dearly departed that the conceptual world of the spirit must be revealed to humanity in general. For how does it cut to the heart, especially today, especially in our present time, when one hears the words from there or from there, from sides that many people even see as called, that countless people see as called, when one hears the words from such sides in this sad time often today: one owes it to the dead to continue what is going through the world in such a gruesome way today! If we recognize the attitude of the dead as I have characterized it, then we also know that the worst aspect of materialism is that the mystery of death is desecrated in our time, when people bring death into the world, in that the passions of the living invoke those who have passed through the gates of death. |

Let us honor and love our dear dead, my dear friends, by trying to bring living spiritual life into all the places where we are placed, one and the other, in our earthly existence. In this way, we also carry spiritual life into all world existence according to our ability, and we will be most united with our dear dead precisely in our zeal, in our devotion to a spiritual-scientific worldview. And I know that I also speak in the spirit of Sophie Stinde, who has now been in the spiritual world for a year, when I say these words, which have been spoken today in her memory and that of the others close to us and those who have passed through the gate of death, especially on this day. If on this day I try to awaken in you the awareness that in the work for the spiritual scientific world view, there are always those great, but also those intimate moments for our soul, in which our soul knows: Now you are not alone: the soul is with you, the soul to whom you were close when it spoke with the organs of the physical body, when it looked at you with the eyes of the physical body, when you were allowed to look into its physical eyes. You are close to this soul now, the soul you approached then, the soul you accompanied to the gate of death, the soul you mourned when it had to turn away from physical existence. You knew her, you loved her, she was dear to you; you continue to know her, you continue to love her, she continues to be dear to you. And since you accompanied her to the gate of death, only then did the nature of your being with her change; for you feel how she is around you, how she is with you.

Let us, my dear friends, on this anniversary of the death of our dear Sophie Stinde, permeate ourselves with such thoughts, and let us remember in such thoughts all those who have passed through the gate of death from our ranks, and who will all meet with her, because all were united with her by their common spiritual striving. And let us seek to be close to them all through the most intimate phases of our soul, united with them by the same yearning, the same striving for the spiritual world.

Most of the friends who have combined their work with the construction here were also united in their work with our friend Fleinrich Mitscher, who recently left the physical plane. They all know that we have lost the third link within that dear and loyal community, after Fritz Mitscher and our dear Mrs. Noss, who have previously passed away into the spiritual world. I do not need to say much in memory of Heinrich Mitscher, because there are a large number of friends here who, from a relatively long and beautiful working relationship, will feel what needs to be said in connection with Heinrich Mitscher.

Heinrich Mitscher was with us here from the very beginning of the construction of this building in Dornach, and how fortunate it was for this building, that for many things – especially the artistic natures united with this building will feel this in the same way – that for the work of this building we were able to have precisely this artistic force. In this incarnation, Heinrich Mitscher was a peculiarly constituted artistic nature, an artistic nature of whom one could say: This personality was first and foremost an artist, not a painter, not an artist in any other specialized field, but an artist first and foremost. Such natures have the peculiarity that within the present-day art world, the present-day artistic endeavor, they sometimes find it very difficult to find the path of life that is right for them. Those who, through a richer spiritual disposition, have artistic impulses in general, artistic impulses of organizational power, sometimes find it difficult to cope with today's specialization. But - and especially when the opportunity arises to develop general artistic skills, as is the case with the performance of this building - then such strengths are in the right place. And we felt that, with Heinrich Mitscher working here among us with his strong organizational skills, with his suggestive power in many respects, through which he knew how to convey intentions to other friends, with his strong will, which is suited to enforce what was intended. Above all, artistic natures are needed here, and Heinrich Mitscher was just that. Therefore, the services he has rendered to the construction cannot be praised highly enough.

In this construction, much has been done by dear, expensive friends, of which the world in general may not know much in the individual, specific case. Much loyal and devoted work is embodied here in what the eye sees. Much of the spirituality of Heinrich Mitscher, which was designed for greatness, is in this building. And his will was undivided in the sense of the building during the time when he devoted his strength to it. He was more inwardly connected with this building than with any other link in the anthroposophical movement. This was a consequence of his peculiarly artistic nature, and it will always be a sad memory for me to see Heinrich Mitscher say goodbye to this place of work here in the first days of the outbreak of the war. During the entire period in which his energies were devoted to the sad events now intervening in the development of mankind, he always knew how to put the right man in the right place. And the esteem in which he is held by all those who have recognized his value within the community that is carrying out this work has also been accorded to him in the circles in which he has then entered to engage in a very different kind of activity. To be known and to be connected in life with such natures is an extraordinary gain of life for those who are. For this acquaintance includes the feeling of a real individuality, inwardly willing and thinking in a certain way. In recent times, the word has been misused many times for all kinds of things, but one can still feel its good content, its good essence. One must then say: Those who have come to know Heinrich Mitscher have come to know a real individuality. Individualities are much rarer in today's world than one might think. Therefore, having the company of an individuality is a blessing and a gain in life. One must only understand correctly in such things. Certainly, some sharp, some cutting words could come from Heinrich Mitscher, but never was such a sharp, cutting word used other than in holy enthusiasm for the cause. And those who knew this individuality knew that behind the sometimes rough form, something tremendously fine, something from precisely artfully formed and artfully willing worlds, actually emerged.

Now, like so many of the present day, whose karma is connected in the narrower sense with these present events, Heinrich Mitscher has also hit the ball and he has left us. We may have the feeling, my dear friends, that just as the other members of the Mitscher-Noss family, this soul can also be a source of help and strength for us, especially from the spiritual worlds. And the sister who is in our midst may know and be assured that those who have recognized her brother's value, have experienced her brother's value and friendship, will feel with her in a brotherly-sisterly way and will faithfully carry the memory of this our dear friend. As I said, I do not need to say much about this, because in this case, too, the best is in the souls that have recognized the value of a friend's soul, an artist's soul, a loyally working soul.

Another thought that I would like to mention must be even briefer, my dear friends, because it is not permissible for me to speak at length when the event I am speaking about is one that is extremely close to me personally. But even in this case, even if I only speak a few words, these words must, as is necessary in this case, be spoken from the most personal feelings and emotions, so that these words, with their personal tone, find an independent echo in the hearts of many friends who are united here. Among the many recent losses in the physical realm, is that of Dr. Steiner's sister, Miss Olga von Sivers, who will remain in the loving memory of many of us as a true friend and a soul most beautifully united with our movement. Whoever saw it will not forget the lovely, beautiful embodiment of the figures that Olga von Sivers was able to portray for our mysteries. Who will not remember the quiet, reserved way in which this personality worked within the circles of our society.

Olga von Sivers was one of those members –– I may say –– who has been connected with our movement in a very specific way from the very beginning. She rejected in the most comprehensive sense everything that did not come from the occult truth, the occult impulse, the occult insight, from that strictness that we strive for, from that purity with which we should look at things. One can say: our movement, my dear friends, was, because one must always tie historical to historical, interspersed with other movements in the most diverse ways. One or the other soul even found its way out of other occult societies and theosophical movements with difficulty.

Olga von Sivers was one of those personalities who were never attracted to anything else. And so one could feel all the more closely connected to her, faithfully. In the place to which she found herself assigned, she cultivated in intimate circles what, starting from this movement, must be considered appropriate for spiritual life in terms of the needs of the present and the near future. She was so quiet in her appearance, so gentle in her actions, and so energetic in her inner life, although she kept to herself, that her connection with our movement was particularly specific.

When the war broke out, she had, in addition to the further care she faithfully provided for the anthroposophical cause in St. Petersburg and in Russia in general, she had devoted her energies to the Samaritan service of war, had had to let the heavy loss of her brother, who fell on the battlefield, pass through her soul, had consumed her energies, was inspired to the end by the hope of the spiritual court, which was almost no longer a hope for her because she no longer considered it realizable: to be united with all that is forming around this structure.

As I said, I am forbidden from saying more by the fact that I myself have lost so much, especially with regard to this personality. And I may also say here: It is my deepest conviction that those who have come to know the value and essence of this personality will keep her in the most loyal memory and will sympathize that it is difficult not to be allowed to know this personality in the future at the side of her sister in our circle here on the physical plane. She too will continue to help us faithfully from the spiritual world.

My dear friends!

Our thoughts today, which are connected with the fact that five years ago today we laid the foundation stone of our building here in this place, were interrupted by the sad news that one of the oldest members of this area, our dear Mrs. Hahn, left the physical plane this morning. And I truly need not say much to stir the appropriate feelings in those of our dear friends who have known Mrs. Hahn. And those who knew her, who really knew her, truly loved her very, very much. We who knew her see before us her gentle, quiet nature, but precisely because we knew her, we knew how much strong, internalized power was in this quiet nature. And we had ample opportunity, through the long years during which Frau Hahn was connected with us at the side of our dear Mr. Hahn, to feel deeply satisfied with the intense bond with our movement through this soul, which has now left the physical plane.

In her deepest soul she had absorbed that which speaks through spiritual science. She had grasped it, one may say, in the whole breadth of her extensive emotional life. And what spoke particularly deeply through her, she had found the possibility everywhere to tie that which revealed itself to her through spiritual science to her deeply inward, spirit-given, and we may say in the truest sense of the word, pious soul nature. She was one of those souls who did not feel any contradiction between her original, elementary inclination towards spirituality, towards piety, and towards devotion to the spirit, and what, one might say, should come as a bright light to illuminate the spiritual world through spiritual science. One of the qualities of this good soul, which manifested itself particularly in her attitude towards our spiritual scientific movement in the most beautiful way, was her striking loyalty to the movement, that loyalty which emerged in the beautiful nuance that it did not merely represent an adherence to something familiar in the past, but an ever new experience. One could see in this soul how true loyalty to a cause consists in the fact that it can be revitalized every day, every hour, through the inner strength of the cause and through the heartfelt connection with the cause.

And so, when looking back, the soul of our dear the dear soul of our Mrs. Hahn, the beautiful picture of her truly held in the spiritual sense of her expectation of death, an expectation of death that knew how to take this event, which cuts so deeply into human life, as a transformation of life, to whom it was natural to take this event as a transformation of life, to whom it was natural to enter through a gate into another form of life. And one could see in this soul how important it is for a person to have such a possibility of being in the spirit, even if severe suffering, as was the case here, had been going on for the last weeks, months, and even years. It is wonderfully symbolic of the beautiful picture that emerges of this faithful and loving soul that one may recall the fact, which is probably rare in human life: On the day when our dear Mr. Hahn and our dear Mrs. Hahn united in the bond of life, as on their wedding day in 1906, they came in the evening to the second lecture, the second public lecture that I was allowed to give in Basel on our spiritual science. The entry into our movement, my dear friends, was the wedding celebration of our two friends.

And it is a beautiful, symbolic union that the thoughts that move us today in connection with our building are carried up into the spiritual world by a loyal and loving messenger. For truly, we can be sure of this: our dear Mrs. Hahn will carry our best thoughts, which we can cherish on the occasion of this quinquennium of our laying the foundation stone, up into the spiritual world like a faithful and loving messenger.

I only have to say that the funeral service will take place next Sunday at noon. We gather at Mr. Hahn's 'house of mourning' at noon on Sunday, in Reinach, Therwilerstraße.

During the last few weeks, while we were in Germany, as you know, our dear Miss Anna Ziegler left the physical plane. Most of you knew Anna Ziegler, and I do not need to say to those who knew her what a valuable personality she was in our midst. But now that she has passed over into other realms of existence and we will no longer see her here in the physical world, we feel the need to recall today how she was among us. You are familiar with her truly quiet existence, which meant that she was often hardly noticed by her fellow human beings. But there are people who were able to notice this existence in a very strong sense and then notice it in such a way that they experienced Anna Ziegler as a personality who is a real blessing of existence to experience. As quiet as she was, she spoke loudly and meaningfully through her deeds for many people, through her deeds of love and benevolence, through which she was able to do things that could truly make the existence of the people she touched more satisfying than it would have been without Anna Ziegler.

Those who have received such information from her will know how true the words are that I am now speaking to you in this way about the departed from the physical plane. And the fact that I am allowed to speak them is well established from the fact that Anna Ziegler was our own housemate for a long time and we have everything to say about our own lives that many others have experienced with her.

But there is also much more to be said about the deceased. Above all, it is to be emphasized that she was truly highly esteemed in that the power to be convinced in an exemplary manner of what we call spiritual science lived in her soul. Her soul was completely filled with this power, to be thoroughly convinced of all details that come into consideration in the field of spiritual science. And this power of conviction was so effective in her that it may be said: If many people who have the opportunity to work more externally could carry such power of conviction within them as she did, our spiritual movement would benefit greatly.

And it may be said that such a soul with such power within means something very special even after her death. One can feel united with such a soul, so that one knows that she will be present as a soul in our midst when we have to fight for everything that needs to be fought for, if spiritual science is to gain the position in the world that it deserves.

In this sense, my dear friends, we will think of our friend Anna Ziegler again and again. Those who knew her will feel the necessity to turn their thoughts to her again and again. She also had the special quality of putting everything that happened around her, that she experienced in life, that she had to intervene in life, into the perspective of spiritual scientific observation. If she had to say anything about anything, and it was important from the point of view of spiritual science and especially from the point of view of the spiritual scientific movement, there was no doubt in her mind that everything must be done to carry through such a matter in such a way that it corresponded to her truly pure spiritual scientific perception. And that is what I believe we may recall today, and what I believe can be the starting point for many of us who knew Anna Ziegler to turn our thoughts to her again and again. These directed thoughts will not only be those that are most certainly received by the soul of Anna Ziegler in such a way that they are thoughts that awaken and generate love in her, that they are received with full love, but they will also be thoughts that, in coming back from the dead, can be strengthening for those who turn these thoughts to this dear soul.

Remembering her and feeling united with her, we rise from our seats and will often think of her, my dear friends, as we do at this moment.

My dear friends!

Last night our dear friend FJarald Lille left the physical plane. A great many of those friends who have been working here on this building for years, and also those who have come here from time to time, know our friend and have undoubtedly grown to love him very much. Lille was a personality who was completely devoted to the anthroposophical cause, a personality who was intimately attached to all the work and to the whole process of our construction. When Lille moved to his immediate homeland some time ago, prompted by his circumstances, the germ of the disease that has now taken him away was already in him. But it drew him back here. The opposing spirit in his body threw him, when he came here again last year, on the sickbed. It was a difficult time, he has gone through here. Then he sought rest in the mountains, always mindful of what is to arise here for humanity, and fully convinced of the value of that, what is to arise here.

When our courses began, he found himself back here, although he was suffering greatly and close to death. With a deep interest and a real inner radiance, he was still able to take part in a number of the presentations during the first week of the course. Then, however, the illness prevented him again. And just a day before his death, he assured me how extraordinarily glad he was that he had been able to let this part of the course, which he was able to attend, still sink in. He has passed over into the spiritual world with courage and in the light, hardly assuming any difference between the worlds of here and there within himself, having gone over as one of our most loyal co-workers, who will certainly keep all her thoughts, all her striving united with what is created here. And those who have come to know our dear friend and appreciate his character will be convinced of this. They will faithfully send their thoughts after him for the rest of his journey through life. He will most certainly, after he has repeatedly and repeatedly striven for the construction in his earthly life, already foreshadowing how his whole being is directed here, he will most certainly unite his thoughts with those that come up to him from here. As a sign of this, my dear friends, we rise from our seats.

The cremation will take place in Basel on Monday afternoon at 4 o'clock.

My dear friends!

Today, too, I have to begin with a message of mourning. Our dear member, Mrs. Caroline Wilhelm, left the physical plane last night. There are certainly quite a number of friends among you who have known Mrs. Wilhelm for years and who know with what loyalty she was attached above all to our anthroposophical spiritual movement, with what loyalty she was also attached to all that is here in the Dornach building. With what love she always came out! She has been seriously ill for a long time. Even when the illness, which for a long time offered little prospect of a truly thorough restoration of health, had already taken hold of her, she always came and went and felt strengthened, even in her suffering, by what Dornach was to her. She found some relief here and there. In particular, she received particularly kind care over a long period of time at the institution of our esteemed member and colleague, Dr. Scheidegger in Basel. It was touching to see how she could take joy in every ray of sunshine in her friendly room, even in the midst of the most painful suffering, and how she repeatedly sought refuge in everything that anthroposophical reading could offer her in terms of upliftment, comfort and strength. There is no doubt that she was deeply and intimately connected with the soul of what lives in anthroposophy, and that she carried it through the portal of death. And I am also convinced that those who knew her, those who saw here how faithfully she clung to everything concerning Dornach, will now also unite their thoughts with the striving of her soul. There is no doubt that our friend, Mrs. Wilhelm, will always be connected with all that lives and works here with heartfelt love and loyal devotion. The cremation will take place in Basel on Tuesday at 4 p.m., and it is to be hoped that those who know Mrs. Wilhelm will attend. We will now rise from our seats as a sign of our connection with her.

Before I come to the subject of our deliberations, I would like to say a few words about the fact that our friend and colleague here on the building site, Mr. Schleutermann, has lost his young wife in the physical plane in these days, and perhaps I may take this as an opportunity to tell you how Dr. Wegman, who was the attending physician in this case, experienced the beautiful end of Mrs. Schleutermann's life on earth.

It was, however, a long and sometimes very painful illness, of the kind that, over a long period of time, ultimately leads to the etheric body detaching from the physical body, which manifests itself in a peculiar kind of drowsiness. In this case, it often happens towards the end, that with the even stronger detachment of the etheric body, a consciousness filled with supersensible content arises, which speaks in all kinds of beautiful images about the tasks of one's own and the earthly existence. And from this point of view, the passing over of the young woman, who was only twenty-four years old, was apparently an extraordinarily uplifting one.

I wanted to mention this to you, my dear friends, because it can be an uplifting thought for the numerous friends who were also present at the funeral this afternoon, and because this thought can be the starting point for those friends who will then receive Mr. Schleutermann back into their ranks when he returns to work here after his pain has been somewhat alleviated. You will then be able to strengthen him with this thought, and he will perhaps find some consolation in the strengthening thoughts you have for him, just as he can really find a great deal of uplifting strength in the beautiful, supersensible thoughts that were the last from his deceased wife during this incarnation on earth. I would ask you, my dear friends, to rise from your seats as a sign that we want to support our friend in his great sorrow.

My dear friends!

This morning the anthroposophical movement has suffered a great loss and experienced a great pain. Our dear friend Georga Wiese from Norway has passed away from the physical plane. It can fill us with a deep sense of tragedy when we consider that Georga Wiese worked intensively at the Goetheanum for many years, even after it had been destroyed. Many of the forms of the old Goetheanum were created with her hands. She had come here again and again, becoming dear and beloved to many, and felt the Goetheanum as her second home alongside her beloved Nordic homeland. She came here for our Christmas Conference to share her enthusiasm and her inner devotion to the anthroposophical cause, always marked by a willingness to make sacrifices and by joy in making them. Before she was able to participate in the conference, before it began, she had an accident, broke her upper arm, and had to be taken to hospital. Due to complications that can easily arise at that age, she then developed lung damage. This morning, a pulmonary embolism ended this physical plan of this life, which was so valuable to us and to the entire anthroposophical movement. With a glimpse into the spiritual world, hoping to be able to participate in what was to happen in her heart, she could still be found on the day before last, as she was dying.

We, my dear friends, follow her soul, which remains united with us. We want to remain united with this soul and know that the gentleness, beauty and love of her spirit are truly present here in this hall, where she sat so often and devotedly cultivated anthroposophy with us.

When we are to accompany the dear soul on her ascent to the spiritual worlds, when we are to follow her on her last journey on earth, that has yet to be announced. First, arrangements will have to be made to either bring her relatives from Norway here or to follow their instructions.

But today, my dear friends, let us rise from our seats in faithful remembrance of our dear friend and in the knowledge that we want to follow her soul with our thoughts to those goals, which, according to her whole nature, will certainly be great and good, in order to honor her memory.

My dear friends!

We have seen two of the most self-sacrificing members of our Anthroposophical Society pass through death and depart from the physical world in quick succession. Mrs. Ferreri died recently in Milan during the time of my absence, and today is the first time that I can reflect on this departure. Mrs. Ferreri was a long-standing member of our society who worked for it in the most self-sacrificing and dedicated way. Wherever it was a matter of selflessly standing up for something that affected the interests of society in one way or another, Mrs. Ferreri was there.

She was not only active in northern Italy, working from Milan for the anthroposophical cause, to which she was completely devoted, but she also worked in distant Honolulu to establish a branch that is actually her work. Although it is not seen much here because it is so far away, it is thriving in an extraordinarily favorable way and has a warm and supportive effect within the anthroposophical movement. It is precisely from this branch that we repeatedly receive the strongest evidence of interest and participation.

It was always extraordinarily touching to see how devotedly Mrs. Ferreri worked in every respect. And for her, this arose from a deep inner connection with the anthroposophical cause, from that deep inner connection that I would call an inner knowing faith, knowing through its certainty. That is how it was with her: knowing through the certainty of being inside the anthroposophical movement. And so she remained faithful in her heart until her death. She was so faithful that, although she was extremely ill and although she undoubtedly received every help in the place where she was, in Milan, she still wanted to travel here during the last days of her illness because, as she wrote to Dr. Wegman, she believed that she could only recover here, at the center of the Anthroposophical Movement. Only her rapid death prevented her from coming and taking this last step, which was one of the most beautiful testimonies of her loyal devotion to the cause.

I think that we – and I mean the most diverse among us, numerous members who are also gathered here today, numerous other members – have come to know the wonderful mind and noble soul of Mrs. Ferreri in the most beautiful way. and that we follow with our thoughts, in the deepest feeling of our hearts, the soul that has passed through the gate of death and will certainly continue to live in intimate relationship with the anthroposophical cause. I ask that with these thoughts, which linger with the thoughts of the departed, our dear members, insofar as they are gathered here, rise from their seats for a while to unite their thoughts with the departed.

Now, my dear friends, on the occasion of a member who was deeply involved in the construction of the Goetheanum in Dornach, who was actively involved in the construction of the Goetheanum itself, has left the physical plane, and now, at this very moment, the coffin has to be closed and taken away, you will allow me to interrupt this lecture for ten to fifteen minutes to close the coffin and then continue it. It is Saturday, and there is no other way, the coffin has to be transferred to the crematorium in Basel today. (pause.)

My dear friends, now we have had to send the earthly remains of Edith Maryon to the crematorium in Basel. Friday morning, the membership of our Anthroposophical Society, as far as they are here, were affected by the painful news that our long-standing colleague, a colleague since the beginning of the work here at the Goetheanum, Edith Maryon, has left the physical plane. Today it is my task to briefly point out some of the things that the deceased found and gave within the Anthroposophical Society, what she has done here at the Goetheanum, and we will then gather at the Basel Crematorium at 11 o'clock on Tuesday for the actual funeral service.

Edith Maryon sought out what could be found in the anthroposophical movement by first becoming a member of another esoteric group and participating in the most diverse works of this group as a very active member. This was an esoteric group that later found its way into our anthroposophical movement through a number of its members. Then, still during brief visits to the anthroposophical movement in Germany, Edith Maryon came over from England. At first she found it difficult to integrate on the outside, as she did not understand German. But with an iron will she overcame precisely this obstacle and was thus able to fit into everything that was happening within the German-speaking part of the anthroposophical movement in a relatively short time. She identified so closely with the Anthroposophical Society that she participated from the very first task here in 1914, from the perspective of her particular artistry.

Edith Maryon had been a well-known sculptor for many years. She has created sculptured portraits of prominent figures in English politics, diplomacy and society that have received acclaim. It is, of course, difficult to make an impact in the field of art today; but Miss Maryon has, to a high degree, succeeded in making a name for herself in the art of sculpture.

But the most essential thing in her soul was not any particular branch of human activity, even if it were art; the most essential thing in her soul, her soul's intentions, was the striving for spirituality, which, as already mentioned, she had sought in that esoteric group in which she had been before she joined the Anthroposophical Movement. It was mainly this esoteric deepening that she then continued to seek within the Anthroposophical Society for herself and for the striving of her soul. But she was inspired by a far-reaching and comprehensive intention to work with us on our work. And that is what I would like to present here, because Edith Maryon was a long-standing and intensive collaborator, and we have now lost her in her.

I would like to point out how exemplary she was in certain respects, especially in the particular way she devoted herself to the Society in terms of her work for it. Anthroposophy today, my dear friends, is not only a much-challenged but also a difficult thing to accomplish if it is taken seriously. If anthroposophy and the anthroposophical movement are taken seriously, then there is no other way than for the individual to offer what they are able to contribute in this or that field at the sacrificial altar of the work of the society. And so it was with Miss Maryon. She offered her entire artistic talent at the sacrificial altar of the anthroposophical cause. She had grown into a kind of sculpture that one acquires today by going through the appropriate school, by going through everything that then brings about the opportunity to present one's work to an audience interested in art and so on. All this – it may be said, because Miss Maryon understood it perfectly – actually helps nothing within the Anthroposophical movement. Anyone who believes that it helps within the anthroposophical movement is on the wrong track. You cannot bring anything into the anthroposophical movement in a certain sense; rather, you must first leave what you have before if you want to work actively. If you do not believe this, then you do not have a clear idea of the extent to which the anthroposophical movement must draw on the very earliest sources of human development in order to fulfill its task and achieve its goal. And just as it is possible in the most diverse fields, my dear friends, so it was also possible in the field of sculpture when it came to building this Goetheanum, which unfortunately was so painfully snatched from us.

Edith Maryon not only took part in the development of the central group, but also in the most diverse sculptural work that was needed for the construction of the Goetheanum. And it was not always just a matter of producing some model or other. It was also a matter of doing all the work that was not actually visible on the outside, but which was necessary if such a special art was to be integrated into what the Goetheanum must generally achieve. And so, if we fully penetrate ourselves with the awareness from the outset that in Miss Maryon a person has come into the anthroposophical movement who has sought the esoteric in the most ardent, fullest sense, we can throw into the balance the way in which she, who has now left the physical plane, really engaged with the work. That is what I would like to characterize in particular by evoking her memory in you.

It is quite natural, my dear friends, for someone to bring in something from outside, be it this or that art. Anything that is brought in through external training is actually something that I cannot agree with, so that what is brought in is actually not something that I can agree with. Nevertheless, it is necessary for the whole to flourish that the individual contributes his abilities. You understand from the outset that the individual must contribute his abilities. The sculptor must contribute his abilities. The painter must contribute his abilities, and so on and so forth. You understand this, because otherwise I would have had to carry out the whole Goetheanum construction alone. So, in the truest sense, co-workers were really needed for the Goetheanum, co-workers who could bring the best of their abilities, but who could also sacrifice this best of their abilities, because, if I express it in external terms, I can never actually agree with what is brought in.

What I myself now had to accomplish in the field of sculpture was, of course, something quite different from what Miss Maryon could contribute. So what was it actually about? It could not be about working together in such a way that some kind of resultant of the interaction would arise, but it could only be about the work being done the way I had to have it done, the way it had to be done according to the intentions of the Goetheanum, which I had to represent.

You see, my dear friends, what comes into consideration here is that a completely new interest arises: the interest in the work itself. For this to happen, people are needed who have this interest in the work, without anything else, so that the work itself comes about. Whether or not they agree with each other, the work must come about, the work must be possible. In characterizing this, I am characterizing precisely what is needed for the work at the Goetheanum.

And Miss Maryon had two qualities that I would say are most needed for the real work in the Anthroposophical Movement: two qualities on which the work of Miss Maryon here at the Goetheanum and in the Anthroposophical Society in general was actually based. The first was absolute reliability. There was no possibility that anything I intended that Miss Maryon was supposed to carry out would not be carried out, would not be taken completely seriously and taken as far as it could be taken, as far as it was intended to go. That is the one quality needed – I mean within anthroposophical work – so that when I state something about myself, it is then sufficient in the statement, that the fact of the statement can simply stand, and that there is then certainty that the matter will be carried out.

The second was an extremely well-developed practical sense. This can be said precisely with regard to the occasion of passing away from the physical plane, for the reason that this practical sense is actually what we leave behind here on earth when we go through the gate of death, but which is indispensable when it comes to really working. You see, there are many idealists who are mere idealists without a practical sense. And it is good when there are idealists, and the idealist himself is good. But the idealist with a practical sense is what is needed in the world. And mere idealists are dependent on those people who develop a versatile practical sense, if only these practical people stand at the same level of idealism. Contempt for practical sense is not at all what can somehow lead to such work, imbued and permeated with spirit, as is urgently needed within the Anthroposophical Society and movement. People with a practical mind are particularly valuable there. People who are sculptors are valuable there, but also people who, when necessary, can make a lampshade in a place where a special design is needed, who can actually do everything they set their minds to, in a certain way. Of course, this is always subject to certain limits. But we do need people within the anthroposophical movement who can really do what they want, because many people want to do, but the prosperity of our Anthroposophical Society is based on those who can do what they want.

Fichte's saying has also been quoted here often: Man can do what he should, and when he says, I cannot, he will not.

These two qualities then led Miss Maryon to do a great deal, which was done in a quiet, calm manner, after she had actually only sporadically brought her own sculpture to bear, and without which the work of the last few years would not have been possible.

In doing so, she extended her practical interest and sense to other things, which certainly helped our movement. It is thanks to her selfless efforts that the teacher training course was held here, which was attended by English teachers and was held around Christmas time some time ago. It is thanks to her selfless efforts that Mrs. Mackenzie has campaigned so energetically for the movement in the field of education in English-speaking countries. Finally, it is also due to her selfless efforts that the Oxford course was able to take place, the Stratford Shakespeare visit was able to take place and many other things were able to take place precisely because of her mediation between the anthroposophical center and the English-speaking regions.

It was extremely valuable that she, on the other hand, never encountered strong resistance in her work when it came to completely changing an intention that was dear to her. For example, the idea of the eurythmy figures originated with her, as did the first attempts to make such eurythmy figures. The idea was extraordinarily fruitful. But the form of the eurythmy figures had to be completely changed. Miss Maryon never shrank from completely changing anything to suit the circumstances, so that the resistance of an attachment did not work in this direction.

And so I may say, my dear friends, that through her work, many quiet and peaceful tasks have been accomplished for the Anthroposophical Society, for which it has every reason to be deeply grateful. I do not even want to look so much at the quantity, certainly, in terms of quantity, very many achieve very much, but in terms of the quality of the work, of the way this work is integrated into the anthroposophical cause, very much has been achieved by those who have passed away that is actually irreplaceable. Only that which has a special inner quality is irreplaceable in the development of humanity. Of course, even such things can be replaced, but then an equal inner quality comes. As a rule, however, they are not replaced in the process of development. And it must be reckoned with this karma that precisely this special quality of Miss Maryon will be lacking in the building of the second Goetheanum.

The most remarkable chains of fate are connected with the construction of the first and second Goetheanum. The germ of Miss Maryon's illness was laid during the night of the fire at the Goetheanum. And from what was laid by that germ during the night of the fire at the Goetheanum, she could not be cured, no matter how careful the care. These are karmic connections. And although much can and must be done through the art of healing against these karmic connections, karma is nevertheless an iron law, and only when even the most careful care has failed can we truly think of karma. While a person is still on the physical plane, we must think only of how he can be cured. And in this direction, through the completely self-sacrificing efforts of Dr. Wegman, everything that could be done has been done. Edith Maryon also left the physical plane at Dr. Wegman's side – I myself was unable to be present due to other commitments.

Now, my dear friends, I have thus pointed out the special kind of connection that existed between the Anthroposophical Society and Edith Maryon. And I believe that this kind of connection will be what makes Miss Maryon unforgettable for the Anthroposophical Society. She will be unforgettable to all those members whom she has met in one way or another over the years, and I may call out to her in particular what is still to be said about the deceased when we have the funeral service at the Basel Crematorium at eleven o'clock on Tuesday.

What I had to say today should culminate in showing how a quiet, self-sacrificing working life within the anthroposophical cause has been effective here, that it is irreplaceable, and that I am certain that those who understand what it actually means to work in a leading position within the anthroposophical movement, as I must do, will take what has been said in an understanding sense. It is not easy to work responsibly within the anthroposophical movement.

My dear friends, please regard what I am about to say about Miss Maryon's death as something that I would like to say to you in general today. This leadership, what does it require? This leadership requires the following, and in particular, since the Christmas Conference, I have often had to point out what this leadership of the anthroposophical movement requires. It requires that I myself be able to carry up to the spiritual world what happens in connection with me, so that I am not only fulfilling a responsibility towards something here on the physical plane, but a responsibility that goes up into the spiritual worlds. And you see, if you want to participate in the right way, you have to be willing to participate in what the anthroposophical movement has become since the Christmas Conference, to understand what it means to be accountable to the spiritual world for the anthroposophical movement.

I could talk a lot about this topic, and I would like to say one of the many things on this very occasion. Of course, a wide range of personal matters are expressed by people in the anthroposophical movement. What is represented on earth as personal, when it mixes with what is supposed to happen for the anthroposophical cause, is an element that, when it remains personal, cannot be justified to the spiritual world. And what difficulties arise for someone who has to justify a matter to the spiritual world when they sometimes have to bring with them what they have to answer for, which comes from the personal aspirations of the people involved. You should be aware of the effect this has. It causes the most dreadful setbacks from the spiritual world when one has to face the spiritual world in the following way.

Every person working in the anthroposophical movement is working with personal ambitions, personal intentions, personal qualities into that which they are working with. Now one has these personal ambitions, these personal tendencies. Most people are unaware that they are personal; most people consider what they do to be impersonal because they deceive themselves about the personal and the impersonal. This is then to be taken along. And this has the most dreadful repercussions from the spiritual world on those who have to carry these things, which arise from personalities, into the spiritual world.

These are the inner difficulties, my dear friends, that arise for a movement such as that of Anthroposophy within the Anthroposophical Society. And it must be pointed out. It is certainly terrible that we have such terrible opponents, but these opponents must be treated in the right way in some way. But as regards the inner life, as regards how anthroposophy is to be represented, it is much more terrible when it becomes necessary to carry the fruits of the labors of the anthroposophical movement burdened up into the spiritual world, burdened with the personal interests of one or other. And little thought is actually given to this fact.

This is what I must mention when I want to characterize the particular achievement of Edith Maryon. And in this respect, the Anthroposophical Society owes a great debt of gratitude to the departed, because she has increasingly understood how to carry out her work in this spirit. These are the things I wanted to and should mention today, based on the idea that such achievements, symbolically speaking, are truly entered in the golden book of the Anthroposophical Society, and above all should be entered in the books of the hearts of its members.

I am sure you would also want me to place what is to be developed today and on Tuesday at the cremation in your hearts in such a way that I ask you to direct your thoughts to her, who has entered the spiritual world, for her thoughts will most certainly be with the further progress of the Anthroposophical Movement. And because of the way she has engaged with it, her thoughts will be full of strength, and it will therefore also be a powerful experience to connect with her thoughts. And as a sign that this is our will, we will rise from our seats in honor of the departed, in the certain confidence that a beautiful, lasting, and powerful connection for the anthroposophical movement has been created.

Now, my dear friends, I have said all I wanted to say today, which in a sense is also connected with the idea of karma, for life and teaching are connected for us, already incorporated into the two obituaries that I had to speak with a heavy heart today. It will now be my task to continue the reflections on karma so that what we have gained from the consideration of individual karmic connections in the human world can now be applied when we ask the big question in our own hearts, in our individual being, how what we personally experience, what we see as often overwhelming, often distressing events in our environment, what we see that is distressing, that we are distressing part of, how that relates to karma, if we want to observe it in a fateful, karmic way, if we want to come to a powerful effect in life by observing the Katmas. This will be able to follow on from the karmic considerations that we have been practising for weeks and which we will then begin to develop in this way tomorrow, applying them specifically to the individual human being, that is to say to individual human experience, to the personal position of the human being in relation to karma.

Before I begin the lecture today, I would like to say a word of remembrance for a person who is very precious and beloved to us. We would certainly have had the satisfaction of having Admiral Grafton among the participants at the eurythmy performance today if he were still with us in the physical world. And to dedicate a word of remembrance to him in these days is a heartfelt desire for me.

Admiral Grafton joined our ranks here in Dornach with the warmest and most heartfelt commitment to anthroposophical endeavors. His connection to anthroposophical endeavors was the most intimate imaginable, and when he spoke of this connection to anthroposophy, one could only be deeply moved in one's heart. Admiral Grafton had a long, busy life behind him, and during this outward-looking, working life he was always keenly interested in acquiring a worldview, a philosophy of life. interested in acquiring a worldview, a philosophy of life, and he often spoke to me about how, for many years, he sought his worldview and philosophy of life from the spirit of the age from Herbert Spencer, the more materialistically inclined philosopher, just as a person experiences this spirit of the age, on whom this spirit of the age initially has such an effect with all its power and might, as it must have on many of our contemporaries. But Admiral Grafton was a man who, in the truest sense of the word, was a seeker. And so he repeatedly told me that the great satisfaction of his life was that, after a long search, he had finally come to an understanding of life through anthroposophy, although he had started from the opposite pole. And one always had the feeling that when this personality spoke about a connection with anthroposophy, it was not only from the depths of the heart, but there was also a wonderful, almost beautiful enthusiasm in this sense of connection, an enthusiasm that must truly appear as a particularly beautiful one when it is spoken from a heart that who had reached old age through a life of hard work.

When I think of the lectures I gave here, and during which I always saw Admiral Grafton sitting in the auditorium, devoted to the lectures, with a touchingly warm and attentive attention, one could say to oneself: There is a heart that listens. — There was a heart that listened. Admiral Grafton was only able to listen because of his general enthusiasm for the spirituality of anthroposophy, as he did not understand German well enough to follow a lecture. He could only follow with his heart. He was only able to follow the general thrust of the matter. And that is what he was like, but always inwardly joyfully excited, always devoted to the matter with heartfelt enthusiasm.

He was overjoyed when his daughter turned to eurythmy and spoke about it with touching, joyful enthusiasm when he talked about it. He was truly devoted to anthroposophy in an exemplary way. He was a personality full of kindness, who could only truly live when she was able to perform acts of kindness towards her fellow human beings. He helped us in many ways by repeatedly playing the flute in our eurythmy orchestra. And he did that with a truly warm, admirable and, I may say, exemplary devotion, because I have experienced many instances of people who were supposed to participate being late. Admiral Grafton was never one of them. He was always in his place. And above all, he was always in his place when his help was needed in some way, large or small. He helped us tremendously in many ways. Admiral Grafton was truly a personage who was loved by everyone, and I know that I speak from the hearts of many when I say these short words of remembrance for him here in the spiritual world.

It was actually the case that in the last few days before we traveled to England, Admiral Grafton was in a devoted mobility, and, surprisingly for the outer life, the news was sent to us by our dear friend Heywood-Smith that Admiral Grafton had left the physical plane during an operation. All of us who received this news were deeply affected. And I am very grateful who could not be here in person at the funeral service for our dear friend, that the friends, especially our friend Heywood-Smith, have taken it upon themselves to say beautifully, devotedly, with a deep understanding of the personality of Admiral Grafton, what I would have liked to have said myself at the funeral service if I had not been detained in England out of duty.

I can say, my dear friends, that in this case, the numerous personalities who are now here and who have not heard of have not heard from Admiral Grafton, did not know him, may believe that the Goetheanum was fond of Admiral Grafton, and that of those who loved him here, the most unifying thoughts will follow him to the places he has now entered, having passed through the gate of death in such a surprisingly quick way. We are grateful to him for all that he has accomplished through his infinite kindness among us here. But we are also grateful that we were able to witness the heart-moving sense of purpose and noble enthusiasm for the anthroposophical cause in this personality, which had previously been so strong in the world. And it is out of this gratitude that we form the thoughts that will continue to connect us with the spirit and soul of Admiral Grafton. We know that he looks down on the anthroposophical movement with a devoted heart and a powerful soul. We know that our thoughts for him are truly imbued with the wish for spiritual benefit and for the anthroposophical cause to flourish. And so all of you, my dear friends, who are gathered here today, are gathered together with the circle that lived with Admiral Grafton here at the Goetheanum for the last years, and rise from your seats with us in memory of this noble soul. May our thoughts unite with his in free will, as is right and proper among anthroposophical people, who know that the bonds formed in life here on earth can endure, if they are honest and genuine, through all time and also through the eternities.