The Rudolf Steiner Archive

33b

Marie von Sivers to Edouard Schuré
Saturday, October 7, 1905

Translation from the French

Berlin, October 7, 1905

Dear Sir,

I was delighted to receive your long letter, especially as I had often thought of you and reluctantly resisted the temptation to visit you in your solitude in Barr, even if only for a few hours. I was actually very close to you. Although I was very short of time during the whole trip, that would not have prevented me; it was rather the feeling that you did not want to be disturbed, the will to respect your solitude, and the idea that you live in Barr in a magic castle that should not be invaded.

From September 6 to 26, I went on a theosophical tour with Mr. Steiner, during which we visited several cities in Switzerland and southern Germany. We spent two days in each place. There was a public lecture on the first evening and what is called a discussion on the second. The days in the various places were filled with conversations with people interested in Theosophy and their manifold needs. I don't think you can have such a wide range of experiences of different kinds in a shorter period of time than you can during these trips with Mr. Steiner and Mrs. Besant. It is as if all the veils fall from human souls. They reveal themselves as they are, and sometimes it is like a volcanic eruption. I would never have believed that people could be so complicated, so miserable and so ignorant of themselves; so much the victim of their own feelings and the plaything of their 'illusions'. Nor would I have believed that a fairly strong dose of intelligence, as is characteristic of our time, could, as a result of self-love, go hand in hand with a complete lack of real understanding, 'insight'. This 'insight' is more likely to be found in the minds of the more simple-minded, whose eyes vanity does not close, whereas the clever can be astonishingly narrow-minded and easily fall prey to their own conceit. Souls really are like landscapes, and I now have to travel through these landscapes. So we went from St. Gallen to Zurich, Basel, Freiburg, Karlsruhe, Stuttgart, Heidelberg, Frankfurt, Kassel, Weimar. The different interiors opened up before us – after all, there are no barriers between the different social classes in Theosophy – and visiting souls in the diversity of their surroundings is extremely instructive. For some, work and poverty are a stumbling block and a leaden cloak; for others, prejudice and the service of any accumulated objects form insurmountable walls. But it is beautiful and comforting to see that everyone who has been touched by the teachings of Theosophy finds the strength to carry their cross and see a path opening up that leads to freedom.

This is also what comforts one beyond all the disappointments one is exposed to in the Theosophical Society. I, in particular, who have to devote myself to the organization, a task that is most repugnant to my tastes and a real Sisyphus work, need this consolation most of all. It was necessary to build a house with a variety of quite miserable materials, mixing the old with the new, the old having already proved its inadequacy. This was only possible thanks to the wisdom and superhuman strength of Mr. Steiner. In a few weeks we will know whether this work, which has been going on for three years now, will continue or whether it will have to stop in order to narrow the stream and give it a more inward direction. If the latter should be the case, I would regret it only for the sake of those who will then be excluded.

Since my return to Berlin, I have not had a moment to myself. The house is full of our best members who have come from other cities to work with Mr. Steiner every day for one to two months. Every day we have the most beautiful hours.⁴⁰ No, Mr. Steiner does not need a medium, he is a very great initiate and certainly does not read in the astral alone. His inner vision and his crystal-clear science embrace worlds so lofty that thought can only touch them with terror from afar. His knowledge has no gaps and his power is as great as his kindness. It is perhaps a disservice to him that we speak in this way. But we who live around him and see the miracle with our own eyes cannot remain completely silent about it. Perhaps the most incomprehensible thing is that someone of such a fragile humanity as I was chosen by him to be his companion in work and leisure. This irritates some people. They will look for the all-too-human in him. Well, he probably knows what he is doing. He has a will that goes beyond the personal, even here.

You ask me if the translation of “Children of Lucifer” has satisfied me. [...]

In November, Mr. Steiner will give two lectures in Colmar; Mr. Ostermann, a member of the French Section, wants to organize them. He would also like to give a lecture in Strasbourg, but it is said that people there are very reluctant to accept the new message.

May the light that you allow to shine in your work also warm your heart during these rainy autumn days.

M. Sivers

• 40. listeners' notes from this course are now reproduced in 'Fundamental Elements of Esotericism', GA 93a.

36

To Marie von Sivers in Berlin
Tuesday, November 14, 1905

Basel, November 15, 1905 (!) ⁴⁵

My darling!

So I arrived in Basel. ⁴⁶ In St. Gallen ⁴⁷ I think it was a success despite the questionable choice of topic. Only this time the people had taken the hall “Volksküche”, where the discussion was recently in a smaller circle. But a completely different audience comes there. But one should still try to maintain the audience that has been drawn in. Rietmann ⁴⁸ is a procrastinator. I couldn't live with Oberholzer ⁴⁹, because they already had other visitors. So Rietmann invited me to stay with him. If only people – they mean well, after all – didn't put you up in a room without heating! It is impossible to expose yourself to the risk of catching a cold when you have to speak every day. Incidentally, Hubo does that too.

In Zurich, the hall was full. There was a lot of inner agreement, but also a lot of inner opposition, which did not come to the fore in the discussion that followed. ⁵⁰ was also there again. He alone wanted a more 'natural' theosophy. There were many Russians and Poles. They stayed the longest. Dr. Gysi is full of “he said this”, “he will say that”, “you shouldn't go too far”, etc. He is almost finished with the good Dr. Ita Wegman ⁵¹ infected with it. I would even understand her timidity, since she is about to take her exam after all, and the professors in Zurich have their shoes tanned by the same company as everywhere else. And now I am in Basel today. I have finished the meal at Geering's, where Schuster was also present. (It is 5 o'clock). Geering is as downhearted as he was weeks ago, Schuster is still a bit of a chatterbox. We will see.

I am writing to you immediately upon arriving in Frankfurt. I am leaving tomorrow at 8:16 a.m. and will be in Frankfurt at 2 p.m. I will take care of everything else then.

I leave Frankfurt at 10:23 p.m. and arrive in Berlin at 7:40 a.m. the next morning. I hope to find a healthy and happy

mouse. With all my heart, Rudolf

• 45. This must be an error on Rudolf Steiner's part, since he spoke in Zurich on the 13th, in Basel on the 14th and in Frankfurt on the 15th.
• 46. The Theosophical groups in Basel and St. Gallen joined the German Section in October 1906 and January 1906 respectively.
• 47. Our planetary system in the sense of a spiritual world view.
• 48. Otto Rietmann (1856-1942), photographer, member since December 1905, chairman of the St. Gallen branch founded in January 1906. Most of Rudolf Steiner's portrait photographs were taken in his studio, and he also took many pictures of the construction of the Goetheanum.
• 49. Frau Emmy Oberholzer became a member in December 1905.
• 50. Gustas Gras (1879-1958), nature apostle of the 20s, see Ulrich Linse “Barfüßige Propheten. Redeemers of the Twenties», Berlin 1983. A memory of him, without mentioning his name, in the lecture Dornach, 10 September 1915 in GA 253.
• 51. Dr. Ita Wegman (1876-1943), who was studying in Zurich at the time, founded the Clinical Therapeutic Institute in Arlesheim in 1921, which led to intensive collaboration with Rudolf Steiner in the field of medicine. 1922-1923 on the Goetheanum's steering committee, from Christmas 1923 to 1935 on the founding board of the General Anthroposophical Society and head of the medical section.

40

To Marie von Sivers in Berlin
Monday, November 20, 1905

Colmar in Alsace, November 20, 1905 My darling! I hope you received the article about the “Moon” in time for it to be published tonight. I arrived here yesterday at 3:27 a.m. Ostermann ⁵⁷ was expecting me and then led me to an ice-cold room, almost as bad as Hubo's. I froze for hours and really didn't understand what was going on. Because there was even heating in the corridors. Just not in my room. Then in the evening I said quite dryly that this was not acceptable. He replied quite naively, “I completely forgot.” They turned on the heat, but how!

Then I went to the lecture. There were quite a few people there, but not too many. It was a bad Sunday weather. The audience knew nothing about Theosophy. There were some Protestant pastors and two Catholic priests. The questions lasted from 8 to 11 p.m. It seemed to have really succeeded in interesting the audience.

Then, in the evening, I found a room that was only moderately warm, and in the bed was a hot water bottle that I immediately threw out. Isn't that incredible, downright droll: to put a steam boiler in an ice pit to half-scald you.

For washing, I got a cup of warm water in the morning and the sink is also as big as what Martha didn't want to stop putting on the table.

I don't really want to write you all this stuff, but I would like to ask you to write a few words to Arenson to the effect that I - for whatever reasons, for my part - have to stay in a hotel in Stuttgart this time. I hope they don't take it badly in Stuttgart. Say it as you like. But I really can't help myself. I can bear anything else without harm; but these private invitations, with the exception of the very kind ones in Munich and Cologne, are really likely to make me gradually unable to work. Here I am now completely convinced of this.

Forgive me, my darling, for this lament. But I am writing this while freezing. It is really not the people's fault. But they understand nothing of the conditions of intellectual work.

So today is Strasbourg, tomorrow Colmar again. Then I will leave for Freiburg as early as possible on Wednesday (Hotel Continental “Zum Pfauen”). — It's better to stick to the floor there, which has happened once, than to freeze to death here.

As you have probably read, Mrs. Lübke writes on Dec. 3. I have just accepted. Please also let Miss Scholl know that I would like to be in Elberfeld on Dec. 3, but only in the evening. Then I will travel to Düsseldorf during the night of the 3rd to the 4th and would also like to stay in a hotel there.

Be a healthy, fresh M. Much love, Rudolf. But I have not received a letter from Miss Minsloff.

• 57. Alfred Ostermann (1862-1919), Colmar, member of the French section of the T.G.

41

To Marie von Sivers in Berlin
Saturday, November 25, 1905, from Nuremberg

My darling, I am sending you the matter of weekdays and evolution. It is sketchy, but it will help you to present the subject on Monday.⁵⁸ who, after the evolution of the sun and moon, is now ⁵⁹ also quite well positioned. —

Now you saw for yourself yesterday⁶⁰ how little is left of the former esoteric institutions, which were, after all, once a physiognomic imprint of higher worlds. In truth, the three symbolic degrees – apprentice, fellow, master – should express the three stages on which man finds himself in spirit, i.e. his self within the human type. And the high degrees should indicate the gradual elevation by which man becomes a farmer at the temple of humanity. And just as the human organism, i.e. the astral, etheric and physical organism, is a microcosm of the world of the past, so the temple to be erected by masonry in wisdom, beauty and strength is to be the macrocosmic image of an inner microcosmic soul-wisdom, soul-beauty and soul-strength.

In materialism, humanity has lost the living consciousness of all this and the outer form has often passed to people who have no access to the inner life.

It would now be the task to take the masonic life out of the externalized forms and give birth to it anew, whereby, of course, the reborn life would also have to produce new forms. This should be our ideal: to create forms as an expression of the inner life. For a time that cannot see forms and create them, must necessarily evaporate into a non-essential abstraction, and reality must confront this merely abstract spirit as a spiritless aggregation of matter. If people are truly capable of understanding forms, for example, the birth of the soul from the cloud-like ether of the Sistine Madonna, then there will soon be no more mindless matter for them. And because one can only show forms in a spiritualized way to larger masses of people through the medium of religion, work for the future must be to shape religious spirit into a sensually beautiful form. But for this, a deepening of content is first required. Theosophy must first bring this deepening. Until man senses that spirits live in fire, air, water and earth, he will not have art that expresses this wisdom in external form.

With warm greetings from Rudolf

• 58. Refers to the Berlin branch evening, which Marie v. Sivers in the absence of Rudolf Steiner.
• 59. See “From the Akasha Chronicle”, GA 11.
• 60. Admission to the Masonic Order of Memphis-Misraim, see note to No. 42.

43

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

The Evolution of the Earth

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

45

To Marie von Sivers in Berlin
Tuesday, January 9, 1906, on the way from Zurich to Lugano

January 9, 1906

My darling. I am writing to you on the way from Zurich to Lugano. In Zurich I found a letter from Günther Wagner ³ He wanted to pick me up from the hotel only at 10 o'clock today. If I had traveled during the night, I would have seen Wagner only at 10 o'clock. Now I am coming by train, which left Zurich at 8:20 a.m. and with which I am now traveling, arriving in Lugano at 1:21 p.m. So the difference is not that big. And it was a good thing too. Because yesterday was definitely the best evening in Zurich so far. Even though it was poorly attended due to the terrible weather and many other circumstances. The audience was unusually responsive yesterday. And the mood was so good that it lasted even when a young scholar appeared in the discussion and raised the objections that are so readily found on the street today. This also showed once again what an obstacle the cobweb of learned modern concepts is for an unbiased grasp of spiritual reality. This is only too understandable for real occultism. One has only to consider the nature of this learned world of concepts. It is, after all, entirely derived from spatial-physical reality. Now, the occultist must also make use of these concepts. Only he pours the content of higher experience into them. Those who are trapped in current thought habits only hear what they already know. And so life remains inaccessible to them. The present must pass through this state. And we have the task of giving life from the higher realms of existence to the thought forms taken from physical-spatial reality.

The “impossible” grass, the unified grass, spoke after this man. You know what it says.

If I had had to leave so early yesterday that I could have left at 10:35, it would not have been good. Because the meeting lasted until a quarter past eleven in the most natural way.

As I write this, it is very cloudy and rainy outside. You can't see far. All the mountains are invisible. I drive through the foggy darkness with happy thoughts of my darling.

Now a few business notes: Rietmann has received the box diploma and the few other diplomas from me. He gave me 10 marks for the first one. Then he told me that he had written to you that one of the diplomas sent earlier had been torn, so a duplicate had to be issued for it. Please do that and don't forget to write “duplicate” in the top left corner. Gysi is the anxious person you know him to be. But today you can't blame anyone for that. Because anyone seeking an official position can be sure of finding insurmountable obstacles if it becomes known that they believe in the “nonsense” of Theosophy. And Gysi is supposed to become a lecturer in dentistry at the University of Zurich soon. Anyone who thinks that Switzerland's “freedom” is favorable in such a matter is very much mistaken. Because “freedom” is first of all the possibility for people to develop “freely” in the sense of their abilities. If people are “clever”, then of course “freedom” is one of “cleverness”. But if people are foolish, then we are dealing with “freedom to be foolish”.

Incidentally, Gysi showed me a newspaper clipping about a theater performance in Lausanne: In the “drama” in question, a “witty” satirical “poet” makes fun of Theosophy. The focus of the cute stage play is a family in which the Prozors are ridiculed. They gather a circle of people around them who are intent on remembering their former lives. A son and daughter of the family appear. The son meets a crook in disguise who claims that in a previous existence the young Prozor owed him a large sum of money that he now has to pay. This is how a scam is carried out. The daughter meets an individual who claims to be entitled to her kisses because he was her husband in a previous life. Of course, the “stupid theosophists” fall for the swindle. And they are cured of their “stupidity” when they realize the swindle - dramas must have an end. You can imagine the amount of “humor” that arises when “a ghost speaks to another ghost,” that is, a poetizing philistine to a philistine audience. But all this is yet to come: malicious persecution, philistine ridicule, etc., etc. For we are only at the beginning. With all my heart, come to Munich as a fresh mouse and be greeted warmly by your Rudolf

• 3. (1842-1930), founder of the Pelikan company in Hanover, cousin and patron of Hübbe-Schleiden, withdrew from the management of his company to Lugano, as chairman of the Lugano branch, he helped found the German section in 1902. Since November 1906, he has been in Berlin as the curator of the Theosophical Library.

46

To Marie von Sivers in Berlin
Saturday, January 13, 1906, from Colmar

January 13, 1906

My darling,
Ostermann and I just came from Strasbourg. I want to use the time until the afternoon lecture to write to you. Ostermann booked a large hall in Strasbourg and offered free admission, so there must have been 600 people at the lecture yesterday. It lasted until after 11 o'clock, starting at 8 o'clock. Before the lecture, we were with a man who has just written a book about the various “Lives of Jesus” since the 18th century.⁴ the lecturer at the university and is also now studying medicine in addition to his theological and philosophical studies. After four years he wants to go to Africa to educate the “savages”. You see, a scholar of the better kind. But precisely for that reason so characteristic. In every word, a confirmation of what I wrote in the article “Theosophy and Science” ⁵ Completely jaded by anything truly spiritual. About Mrs. Besant, whom he had heard speak in Strasbourg, he only said: “a very dependent nature, with nothing at all coming from her.” I don't yet know what he said about my lecture yesterday.

Of course you, my darling, are quite right in what you write in your letter. And we now must seriously consider how we can relieve you. But it really has been so difficult to find someone to do a job in Germany. Just think of the experiences we have had with our helpers so far! But now something has to be done.

If it seems appropriate to you, my darling,⁶ my darling, if we were to “make” Freemasons in Munich like that, then you would have to bring me and yourself the complete regalia. And then we would definitely need some of the implements that apparently have not yet arrived (I don't need the hat, but everything else): 1.) Bible, 2) crown of thorns, 3) triangle, 4) compass, 5) skull and crossbones, 6) a cloth to place on the table, 7) candlesticks and candles, if you don't assume that you can get them on the spot, 8) the myrrh that has to be there. Since I don't have all this here, I can't of course make the Freemasons on the way. Geering-Christ and Schuster want to be there right away. [Günther] Wagner is a St. John Mason; I have told him everything. It remains to be seen whether he will make the leap from ordinary St. John Masonry to the high degrees. It will be the same with Arenson. He is also a St. John Mason. I will see what can be done in Stuttgart. But the formal initiation can only take place when I have the things with me. By the way, don't forget to take the provisional aprons and sashes for the neophytes with you if you want to take anything at all for Munich. Huschke is also a possibility in Munich. We will see.

I signed the acknowledgement of receipt for the items because I thought that we would only hand them over when we had the items.

It will be nice if you visit Regensburg.⁷

On Monday evening, ⁸, you could perhaps tell the people something about the “Christ”. You can weave in some beautiful things from Schuré. And you know the basis of the nature of Christ. One has to imagine the “essence” of Christ as the reverse of the macrocosmic man, but one who is equal to the second aspect of the Godhead, or the Logos. Imagine the moment before the so-called “monad” (the totality of monads) descends to incarnate in the animal-human bodies that have been prepared for it. The animal kingdom, as far as it had developed, had physically spread out everything that had to be drawn together into one being for the lower human, with the exception of the mammals. Into these Lemurian animal-men the world of monads descends, in which Manas first separates from Budhi. Manas is thus incarnated in the Lemurian man, uniting with Kama to become Kama-Manas, while the Budhi Atma remains only as an anlage still linked to Manas. Christ is now the Being who first awakens the 'Budhi' as a first spark. For this it is necessary that the Christ Being takes possession of a chela in the third degree (Jesus). Thus we have to look upon the Christ-event on earth as the reversal of the process within the world of the monads, of that which took place in the case of “Adam”. St. Paul expresses this quite clearly when he calls the “Christ” the “reverse Adam”. The external historical process is only the actual symbol for the inner spiritual process.

So one has to visualize the matter according to the following scheme:

If Mrs. Schmidt won't be satisfied about the “fatherhood” of Jesus, then tell her that we are only concerned with spiritual things, and that the “fatherhood” could only have been important for the predecessors of our present-day good lawyers if they had had to settle the inheritance of Jesus, but that “Jesus” has renounced all inheritance and that therefore the matter of the “father” is not exactly precarious. Except for the lawyers, “fatherhood” is only of interest to the aunts at the coffee klatch and the five o'clock tea. But all that didn't exist back then.

Now again: Let yourself be met in Munich as a completely healthy mouse. I will arrive in Munich at 7:52 in the morning. Therefore, I ask you not to wait for me and also to tell the ladies not to wait for me under any circumstances. I will arrive alone and be at Stinde-Kalckreuth's around a quarter past 8.

All my love, Rudolf

• 4. It can only be Albert Schweitzer with his book “From Reimarus to Wrede”, 1906, 2nd edition under the title ” History of the Life-Jesus-Research, 1913.
• 5. In No. 28 (September 1905) of “Lucifer-Gnosis”, reprinted in “Lucifer-Gnosis 1903-1908”, GA 34.
• 6. Refers to the fact that the esoteric institution recently set up in early January was jointly headed by Rudolf Steiner and Marie v. Sivers.
• 7. Marie v. Sivers and Rudolf Steiner met in Munich on January 17, 1906. She probably expressed her intention to visit Regensburg on the way to Munich in a letter to him that no longer exists.
• 8. Berlin branch evening.

47

To Marie von Sivers in Berlin
Thursday, January 25, 1906

Dresden, January 25, 1906

My darling, I have now arrived in Dresden. It was nice that you were at least able to spend a few days away from the hustle and bustle of Berlin ⁹ If only I could have seen you out of the small-minded work and living fully in the spiritual world, which is meant for you and from which you only had to be snatched for a time because it was so difficult to find people in Germany for our cause who could really know what was important. So you had to take on not a simple martyrdom, but a double one. And on top of that, the difficult situation with your 'wife'! All attempts in this regard have only led to new difficulties. We both, my darling and I, have to bear the karma of materialism, because materialism, as it is expressed in our institutions, inevitably results in futility in our daily lives. And futility makes all things so difficult, because when it is present, it cannot be dealt with by 'sense'. But everything should be done in the further course that is possible.

At first, attendance in Frankfurt was very poor; however, the 'Goethe branch' has been established and Nab is its chair. In Marburg too, only a small number of the gentlemen students were available for a deepening of their spiritual culture. There, incidentally, I met Dr. Christlieb,¹⁰ who had visited me in Weimar 14 years ago because he had taken a liking to my writings at the time. He had then gone to Japan as a missionary for seven years. Now he has translated Trine's books into German. He showed me a review of A. Besant's “Esoteric Christianity” that he wrote for a Protestant church magazine. He ends his review with the nice words “Methinks the old woman is raving”. That is the judgment of a liberal Protestant scholar who, on top of that, translates Trine into German. From the Theosophy he seems to have gained a little better understanding after the Marburg lecture.

I will tell you about Sunday evening in Kassel later. The afternoon (Monday) at Noll ¹¹ seems to have been fruitful. The public lecture was not exactly bad, but it was not particularly well attended either. Kiem's parents were present.

In Weimar, the Tuesday meeting was relatively well attended. It didn't matter that Henning had called for the masons at 6 o'clock on Wednesday. We would actually have to recognize the Johannesmauers as brothers everywhere and treat them as masons. So I did that. The only thing was that it wasn't very effective because only # Weimar masons came to Henning's invitation. Now the Weimarian conditions in masonry are still unfavorable in that they “work” according to the so-called Hamburg system, and this is probably one of the most spiritless. With the four of them it went well, basically. Well, I'll tell you more about it.

In Hanover, they can approach the subject as they like. After all, no real progress will be possible there as long as good old Hübbe-Schleiden has his say. I have written to Mrs. Lübke telling her to do as she likes: she too will only stand in the way of someone's progress. Bremen is actually awful. Because Dr. Braun ¹² has what it takes to lead us thoroughly onto the ice.

So I will see you again soon, my darling. I have to stay here tomorrow for a small gathering. If I don't tell you anything else, I will arrive in Berlin at 10:15 on Saturday.

In the meantime, my dearest Rudolf

• 9. Marie v. Sivers presumably stayed with her friends Sophie Stinde and Countess Kalckreuth for a few more days after their stay in Munich on 17 and 18 January 1906, while Rudolf Steiner continued his lecture tour.
• 10. Max Christlieb (1862-1916), a Protestant pastor who worked as a librarian in Marburg in 1906; see Rudolf Steiner, 'Mein Lebensgang', XX. Chapter, see also Ludwig Kleeberg, “Wege und Worte”, Stuttgart 1961, p. 82.
• 11. Dr. med. Ludwig Noll (1872-1930), elected to the board of the German Section at the founding meeting in 1902, in January 1907 chairman at the re-establishment of the dissolved branch in Kassel, 1921-24 physician at the Clinical-Therapeutic Institute in Stuttgart, 1924/25 second attending physician of Rudolf Steiner.
• 12. Clara Braun, nurse (Sister Frida), married wife of the socialist Dr. Heinrich Braun, member since 1897, helped in the early years with the book dispatch in the Berlin secretariat, moved to Bremen in 1905, married Gustav Wöbken (died 1959) there around 1906.

49

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

With all my heart, Rudolf

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

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

49a

Marie von Sivers to Edouard Schuré
Saturday, November 10, 1906

Translation from the French

Nov. 10, 1906

Dear Sir,

We have just returned from Munich, where Mr. Steiner gave a series of lectures entitled “Theosophy as Illustrated by the Gospel of John”. It was magnificent. During the twelve days we were there, we also drafted the plan for the congress and rented the halls. They are worthy of our taste, spacious, well-proportioned and free of ornamentation, so the decoration will be our responsibility. We can try to approach the idea of a temple. The stage is also large and we will be far enough away from the audience to create the illusion of “mystery”, a project we have not abandoned. So we would like to ask you again for permission to stage “The Sacred Drama of Eleusis”, not with actors, but by distributing the roles among members of our society. Mr. Steiner does not want any theatrical routine; he will be our director himself and will reveal the deeper meaning of our roles to us. Since he can do everything, he will be able to do that too. He will also know how to select those who have special abilities for certain roles with a sure eye. I believe that you are not risking too much, since the performance will not be a public one. Only members of the Theosophical Society will be present and the newspapers will not interfere. Only in the event of an unexpected success could one think of repeating the performance in public, provided you agree.

Now, however, as you yourself said, some changes would have to be made, and then the finished translation would have to be given to the composer. So we have to get to work right away, because the congress is taking place at Whitsun (on May 19). Sometimes, when you take things in hand with energy and goodwill, the stars come to your aid; they inspire us and send us the good spirits. Who knows whether such an undertaking, carried out with courage and faith, might not open the door to greater achievements? If you are not active yourself, you cannot expect others to take risks. Of course, you have to be prepared for a huge amount of work. If you refuse, Mr. Steiner himself will create something in the spirit of the ancient mysteries, because we value mystery, but we would very much like to have yours.

It is true that Mr. Steiner wants to give me the role of Demeter and that frightened me. I would have chosen Persephone rather than the Mother of the Gods. Only Mr. Steiner says that this mother must have something of a nun, and that even my mouth is particularly suitable for this role, but not for that of Persephone. I can't be the first to balk, but I think I now have the most difficult role and at the same time the one on which most depends. [...]

It would, of course, be very nice if you would translate “The Mystical Fact of Christianity”, and Mr. Steiner would be very grateful to be introduced to the French audience through you. He is currently in Leipzig and has asked me to give you this answer.

Please let us know as soon as possible about the mystery play. I believe that a fruitful force for good for humanity will arise from this joint work. And the reputation of every spiritual worker grows in his own country when neighbors take an interest in him. [...]

Thank you very much for all the kind things you say to us. I often return in thought to the peaceful valley of the Vosges, where we found such warm and understanding hospitality. I hope to see you and Madame Schuré again in Munich; after the congress, I hope to be able to set up a series of internal lectures in some beautifully situated place in Bavaria with the help of Ladies Kalckreuth and Stinde ²² with the help of the ladies Kalckreuth and Stinde, at some beautifully situated place in Bavaria. If you only knew how hard Mr. Steiner has to work! I believe that something like this has never been seen before.

With our warmest and most respectful regards to Mrs. Schuré and to you.

M. Sivers

• 22. After the congress, the cycle “The Theosophy of the Rosicrucian,” GA 99.