From Comets to Cocaine... E-Book

Rudolf Steiner

• Herausgeber: Rudolf Steiner Press
• Kategorie: Ratgeber
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2013

Beschreibung

The remarkable discussions in this volume took place between Rudolf Steiner and workers at the Goetheanum, Switzerland. The varied subject-matter was chosen by his audience at Rudolf Steiner's instigation. Steiner took their questions and usually gave immediate answers. The astonishing nature of these responses - their insight, knowledge and spiritual depth - is testimony to his outstanding ability as a spiritual initiate and profound thinker. Accessible, entertaining and stimulating, the records of these sessions will be a delight to anyone with an open mind. In this particular collection, Rudolf Steiner deals with topics ranging from comets to cocaine! He discusses, among other things, nicotine and alcohol; the causes and timing of illness; pregnancy; vegetarian and meat diets; the human ear, eye and hair colour; influenza, hay fever, haemophilia; planets and metals; mental illness; the ice age; the thyroid gland and hormones; beavers, wasps and bees; the nose, smell and taste; and jaundice, smallpox and rabies.

Leseprobe

FROM COMETS TO COCAINE...

Answers to Questions

RUDOLF STEINER

Eighteen discussions with workers at the Goetheanum in Dornach between 19 October 1922 and 10 February 1923

RUDOLF STEINER PRESS

Translation revised by Matthew Barton

Rudolf Steiner Press Hillside House, The Square Forest Row, E. Sussex RH18 5ES

www.rudolfsteinerpress.com

Published by Rudolf Steiner Press 2000. Reprinted 2012 Previous English edition translated by Maria St Goar and published under the title Health and Illness, Volumes 1 and 2, by Anthroposophic Press, New York 1981 and 1983

Originally published in German under the title Über Gesundheit und Krankheit, Grundlagen einer geisteswissenschaftlichen Sinneslehre (volume 348 in the Rudolf Steiner Gesamtausgabe or Collected Works) by Rudolf Steiner Verlag, Dornach. This authorized (abridged) translation is based on the 4th edition, edited by Paul Gerhard Bellman and J. Waeger, and is published by kind permission of the Rudolf Steiner Nachlassverwaltung, Dornach. All drawings in the text are by Leonore Uhlig and are based on Rudolf Steiner's original blackboard drawings

Translation © Rudolf Steiner Press 2000

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 978 1 85584 373 8

Cover by Andrew Morgan Design Typeset by DP Photosetting, Aylesbury, Bucks.

Contents

Main Contents of the Lectures

Publisher's Foreword

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures to Workers at the Goetheanum

1 Discussion of 19 October 1922

The world situation. Causes of illness

2 Discussion of 24 October 1922

Illnesses at different periods of life

3 Discussion of 29 November 1922

The formation of the human ear. Eagle, lion, bull, man

4 Discussion of 2 December 1922

The thyroid gland and hormones. Steinach's tests. Mental and physical rejuvenation treatments

5 Discussion of 13 December 1922

The eye. Hair colour

6 Discussion of 16 December 1922

The nose, smell and taste

7 Discussion of 20 December 1922

Spiritual-scientific foundations for a true physiology

8 Discussion of 23 December 1922

How the soul lives within the breathing process

9 Discussion of 27 December 1922

Why do we become sick? Influenza, hay fever, mental illness

10 Discussion of 30 December 1922

Fever versus shock. Pregnancy

11 Discussion of 5 January 1923

The brain and thinking

12 Discussion of 8 January 1923

The effects of alcohol

13 Discussion of 10 January 1923

The power of intelligence as the effect of the sun. Beaver lodges and wasps’ nests

14 Discussion of 13 January 1923

The effects of nicotine. Vegetarian and meat diets. On taking absinthe. Twin births

15 Discussion of 20 January 1923

Diphtheria and influenza. Crossed eyes

16 Discussion of 27 January 1923

The relationship between breathing and blood circulation. Jaundice, smallpox, rabies

17 Discussion of 3 February 1923

The effect of absinthe. Haemophilia. The Ice Age. On bees

18 Discussion of 10 February 1923

The relationship between the planets and the metals and their healing effects

Main Contents of the Discussions

1 Discussion of 19 October 1922

The world situation. Causes of illness

Economic aims of First World War. Lloyd George. Inflation in Germany. Speculation in foreign currency. Education must produce competent people capable of unfolding a healthy economic life. Original thoughts lacking. Children who read rubbish in textbooks will spout it as adults. How people who died by stroke sensed their own imminent death. The origin of man must be the starting point for what is happening within ourselves. Mortality rate highest in infancy. Up to age 7 and between ages 14 and 21 man particularly prone to illness. Predisposition to health between 7 and 14. Brain cells only gradually harden in young child. After change of teeth they have hardened sufficiently. If not, children become victims of various diseases.

2 Discussion of 24 October 1922

Illnesses at different periods of life

Scarlet fever and measles specifically childhood diseases. Susceptibility to childhood illnesses caused by forces that work in the human body. Mental illnesses hereditary and rooted in physical problems. In the child everything is regulated from the head. Even after birth all inner processes are regulated by this part of the body—including digestion and blood circulation. Causes of blood infection in infants. First teeth result of heredity—second teeth the child's own. Soul-spiritual elements working in child. Modern materialistic science follows Catholic dogma in asserting that the soul is created at birth. Diarrhoea. Convulsions. Hair shows how forces of soul and spirit work on the body. Measles and scarlet fever. Diphtheria and pneumonia. From the age of puberty a new form of breathing comes about. Anaemia in girls, deepening of voice in boys. Influence of whole universe changes to dependence on earth at puberty. Heads ruined by modern education.

3 Discussion of 29 November 1922

The formation of the human ear. Eagle, lion, bull, man

Embryonic development. Cosmos works upon the head, gravity draws out the other parts. Construction of the ear. Memory for tone and sound. Feeling for sounds. Speaking. Within the ear we bear something like a little human being. Knowledge of man's organization possessed by ancient Egyptians. Eagle—head; lion—heart; bull—digestive system; man combines these three aspects. Matthew—man; Mark—lion; Luke—bull; John—eagle.

4 Discussion of 2 December 1922

The thyroid gland and hormones. Steinach's tests. Mental and physical rejuvenation treatments

Removal of appendix. When surgery performed on thyroid, the hormonal glands should be allowed to remain. Adrenal glands. Poisons produced by the body counteracted by hormonal glands. Experiments to counteract ageing in rats. Rejuvenation methods applied to human beings have their negative aspects. Insomnia better cured by psychological means than by sleeping pills, for example. Similarly, occupying one's soul and spirit in old age with something inspiring will make one youthful. Enthusiasm a source of rejuvenation. This cannot be proved in rats! Premature baldness caused by unnatural forms of higher education.

5 Discussion of 13 December 1922

The eye. Hair colour

Construction of the eye—retina, pupil, iris, cornea, lens, aqueous humour, vitreous humour. It is actually a world in miniature. Ego-conscious awareness arises from the use of both eyes, rather like touching the left hand with the right when folding hands in prayer. Speaking with the eyes. The way a person looks at you reveals to a sensitive person whether he is speaking the truth. The ‘evil eye’. Soul and spirit everywhere, especially in the eye. Blue eyes, brown eyes, black eyes. Strong driving forces produce dark hair and eyes. Blonds and blue-eyed people will disappear as the earth ages and the human race weakens.

6 Discussion of 16 December 1922

The nose, smell and taste

The sense of smell makes dogs excellent detectives. Civilization diminishes man's sense of smell. Intelligence in the elephant indicated by its long trunk. Organs of the human being never completely equal in strength on both the left and right side. Professor Benedikt and the brains of criminals. The force that makes dogs wag their tails is damned back by man and pushes the brain forwards. Fawning courtiers who wag their etheric bodies in the presence of royalty. Capacity for discrimination lies in the part of the brain behind the nose. Differences between right and left nostril. Mozart sometimes inspired with his best melodies on smelling a flower. The more intelligent a man, the more he has overcome the dog nature in himself. Tip of the tongue an organ of touch rather than taste. Taste is a regulator for the intake of food, for the taste nerves correspond to the intestines.

7 Discussion of 20 December 1922

Spiritual-scientific foundations for a true physiology

The skin makes the human being an entire sense organ. A whole plant kingdom is contained in the nerves of the skin. It is the fluid element in us, not the solid, that tastes. Fishes follow their sense of taste in every way. With taste we live completely within the etheric body. Migrating birds follow the earth's odours—guiding them to the south and back again to the north. On account of our sense of smell we would always like to be flying. Our thoughts are transformed smells. Human beings harbour a world of warmth within them that perceives external warmth. We experience our independent ego because of this portion of warmth within us. Fallacy of materialistic science.

8 Discussion of 23 December 1922

How the soul lives within the breathing process

Oxygen is life for us, carbon dioxide death. Life and death are constantly within us. Bacilli and infectious diseases. The cholera bacillus can only survive in the intestines where it is protected from the earth's gravity. The human egg and fertilization. Influence of the moon. Nightmares and breathing. The soul lives in the breathing process, not in the body as materialistic science imagines. Nonsense taught to children about origin of the human being. Foolishness of Kant-Laplace theory. Gout. Breathing, correctly understood, throws light on birth and death. Immortal soul element must be comprehended by those active in science. All healing based on expelling earthly influences that afflict the sick person. Without a science of the spirit, mankind does away with the living Christ and retains only the cross of Christ.

9 Discussion of 27 December 1922

Why do we become sick? Influenza, hay fever, mental illness

Every act of drinking or eating is an act of healing. Hunger is a soul-spiritual activity that cannot be stilled. Work of the astral body in dissolving food and distributing substances to the various organs. Astral body can become stupid and deposit substances in the wrong place, contaminating the fluid organization and leading to illness. Bacilli not necessary for one person to catch flu from another. Pollen does not cause hay fever but aggravates it. The greatest medical art lies in asking the right questions. Mental illnesses not mental at all but based on improper evaporation of body fluids that mingle with oxygen and disturb the nervous system. Dementia praecox originates mainly from the wrong kind of feeding during the earliest years of childhood.

10 Discussion of 30 December 1922

Fever versus shock. Pregnancy

Abdomen and forebrain; heart and midbrain; lungs and hindbrain. Henbane can cause shock but, in minute dosage, can heal digestive disorders. The head and fever. Craving for different tastes and smells in early pregnancy. Materialism introduced by England's philosophers caused by constipation! Spiritual arrogance. God reveals himself through abdominal activity. Forebrain and will; midbrain and feeling; hindbrain and thinking/breathing. Influence of mother's condition of soul on developing child. A shock to the mother can cause dire results in the unborn child. Warmth spreads from the head downwards and cold spreads upwards from below; these two streams meet in abdomen, which must be cared for in right way. Ambiguity of concept of heredity. Materialism stems from the Church of the Middle Ages. Necessity to ascend from nature to spirit.

11 Discussion of 5 January 1923

The brain and thinking

Fire at the Goetheanum and hatred towards the anthroposophical movement. Authority of science. Nonsense that the brain thinks. The burying-beetle, wasps and other insects do not owe their intelligence to having a large brain. Newly hatched maggots are already clever. Suppression of facts by nineteenth-century scientists. What works as intelligence through the human head is at work everywhere. Wasps and paper. Thanks to his brain, man can utilize for his own benefit the intelligence contained in all things. The claim that intelligence is produced by the brain is as foolish as claiming that water from a pond is produced by its container. Soul-spiritual element of man that collects the intelligence. The spleen as regulator. Anthroposophy slandered out of a spirit of pure falsehood.

12 Discussion of 8 January 1923

The effects of alcohol

Hangover produced by waste products in the head. ‘Curing’ the hangover by morning drinking merely drives it into the rest of the body. Delirium tremens. Blood-letting. Alcohol pre-eminently attacks the blood. Ruinous process only begins when alcohol attacks the bone marrow, which produces red and white corpuscles. Marked difference between men and women as regards their blood. Red corpuscles more important for the woman and white for the man. Effects of alcohol on human reproductive capacity. Man's drinking harms the child's nervous system, the woman's drinking harms the child's inner organs. Embryo harmed from two different sides when both parents drink. Effect on human development of minute amounts of substances. Corroded jaws of workmen who produced phosphorus matches. By gradually penetrating the bone marrow, alcohol ruins the blood and harms the offspring and future descendants. Long-term negative effect manifests in many generations. Effects of prohibition. Alcohol benign compared to effect of cocaine addiction on human reproductive forces. Enlightening explanations bring people to refrain from alcohol without infringing human freedom. Laws work only on the intellect, real insights work on feeling.

13 Discussion of 10 January 1923

The power of intelligence as the effect of the sun. Beaver lodges and wasps’ nests

Construction of dams and lodges using front paws and sharp teeth. Cleverness of beavers when they congregate is brought about first by winter and second by night. Correct thinking comes from allowing facts to guide one. Wasps hatched in spring are sterile and work all summer long constructing cells. In autumn male and female wasps emerge from eggs laid in the summer. This shows how the sex life of animals is connected with the year's course. Sun's light and heat destroy reproductive tendencies in the wasp. Along with sunlight and warmth the beaver gathers intelligence during the summer in its single burrow. This it can use to build its villages together with other beavers in the autumn. Beavers’ tails their most ingenious aspect for they store their accumulated intelligence in them, thus forming the communal brain of the beaver colony. The wasps’ nests, as well as the beavers’ constructions, built by the cleverness that flows to earth from the sun. People conceived in spring and born the following winter tend to acquire forces of intelligence more easily than those born at other times. Beer less harmful for the reproductive organs than wine and hard liquor, because the sun's effects then work as an internal poison.

14 Discussion of 13 January 1923

The effects of nicotine. Vegetarian and meat diets. On taking absinthe. Twin births

Effect of nicotine on blood circulation, making it go faster. Blood demands too much oxygen, resulting in shortness of breath. Anxiety—thickening of heart—illness of kidneys. Power of thought undermined. People with weak blood circulation can benefit from smoking. Osteoclasts in the bones find fertile ground when nicotine is introduced into the body. If an ox were to consume meat directly, it would go mad. Meat-eaters less gentle than plant eaters. A vegetarian uses forces that are left unused in meat-eaters. The English and sugar consumption. Kosher cooking follows ancient Mosaic dietary laws—prohibition of pork that aggravates diabetes. Taking the baths at Karlsbad purges the system of waste products. Absinthe more damaging than ordinary alcohol because it ruins sleep. The effects of phases of the moon on twin births. Triplets and quadruplets.

15 Discussion of 20 January 1923

Diphtheria and influenza. Crossed eyes

Effect of diphtheria, caused by defective skin activity, on the heart, kidneys and optic nerves. Treatment with baths an effective cure. Bald heads. Skin texture and the effect on people's offspring. Influenza a brain ailment that extends to all parts of the body. Case of girl who could remember everything that was discussed in her presence during her delirium. Value of rest as an aid to recovery. Rosemary added to bath water stimulates skin activity and benefits patient. Flu's effect on optic nerves, producing double vision. Operation, on friend who had permanent crossed eyes, that proved fatal. Heart perceives everything that is out of order.

16 Discussion of 27 January 1923

The relationship between breathing and blood circulation. Jaundice, smallpox, rabies

Counterpart to breathing located in the liver. Malfunctioning of liver and its effect on activity of lungs and skin. Jaundice occurs when the liver is overactive, smallpox when it is weak. Inoculations. Effective treatment for rabies using inoculation of dried spinal cord of a rabbit that has been infected with the disease. Carbon dioxide needed by head for thinking. In very ancient times before the head was developed man breathed carbon and nitrogen instead of carbon and oxygen. Hydrocyanic acid and its presence in comets that have retained the earth's condition of former ages. Uric and hydrocyanic acids played as big a role in former ages as water and air do today. Snow in winter formed by the universe. Comparison of seasons in nature with the rhythm of blood and breathing. Womb like a miniature earth that has remained behind and is still in an ancient, comet-like state. The number 25,920 and its connection with the number of breaths in a day, the number of years in the average human life and the number of years it takes the precessing sun to come full circle.

17 Discussion of 3 February 1923

The effect of absinthe. Haemophilia. The Ice Age. On bees

Silver as a remedy counteracts lead poisoning. The feminine nature contains more of the fluid element, man's nature more of the solid. A haemophiliac man can marry a woman who is not and their children will be without haemophilia. A daughter, however, can pass on the disease to her children even though she does not have it herself. Haemophilia thus passes to descendants by way of the female line. Importance of administering a lead remedy in pregnancy to counteract haemophilia. Ether active in fluid element, the soul in the air element. Effect of absinthe prevents the soul from working on the body's organs in the right way. Male absinthe drinkers produce children who are weaklings, female drinkers children susceptible to disease. Days of the week named after the planets. Glaciers in Europe. Influences from the stars when it snows in winter help us to mould ourselves in the right way. Absinthe drinking prevents this. Barbarian invasions renewed whole of western civilization when Roman culture declined. Tendency to hold on to declining Latin language. Bees completely given up to the influence of the planet Venus; they live in an atmosphere pervaded by love. The benefits of eating honey.

18 Discussion of 10 February 1923

The relationship between the planets and the metals and their healing effects

Mercury as a cure for syphilis. In ancient times the planets were looked upon quite differently. Copper as a remedy for typhoid-like illnesses aggravated by Venus. Eye ailments linked to Jupiter counteracted by tin. Bone diseases—Saturn—lead. Mars and iron. Moon and silver. Knowledge founded on ancient observations. A modern chemist can make nothing of the writings of Basilius Valentinus who knew of the ancient cosmic connections. Suppression of this knowledge by the Church. Metals extracted from plants especially effective in healing. Modern books on botany lack the most important facts for medical men—they do not mention what metals are dissolved in the blossoms or roots. Lack of a healing instinct in modern people. Abdominal illnesses are best healed by the blossoms and leaves of plants, the head by plant roots. An entire plant is contained within man. The human being is connected with the natural history of the whole earth.

Publisher's Foreword

The truly remarkable lectures—or, more accurately, question and answer sessions—contained in this book, form part of a series (published in eight volumes in the original German)* dating from August 1922 to September 1924. This series features talks given to people involved in various kinds of building work on Rudolf Steiner's architectural masterpieces, the first and second Goetheanums in Dornach, Switzerland. (The destruction by fire of the first Goetheanum necessitated the building of a replacement.) A vivid description of the different types of workers present, as well as the context and atmosphere of these talks, is given by a witness in the Appendix to the first volume of this English series, From Elephants to Einstein (1998).

The sessions arose out of explanatory tours of the Goetheanum which one of Steiner's pupils, Dr Roman Boos, had offered. When this came to an end, and the workers still wished to know more about the ‘temple’ they were involved with and the philosophy behind it, Dr Steiner agreed to take part in question and answer sessions himself. These took place during the working day, after the mid-morning break. Apart from the workmen, only a few other people were present: those working in the building office, and some of Steiner's closest colleagues. The subject-matter of the talks was chosen by the workers at the encouragement of Rudolf Steiner, who took their questions and usually gave immediate answers.

After Rudolf Steiner's death, some of the lectures—on the subject of bees—were published. However, as Marie Steiner writes in her original Preface to the German edition: ‘Gradually more and more people felt a wish to study these lectures.’ It was therefore decided to publish them in full. However, Marie Steiner's words about the nature of the lectures remain relevant to the present publication:

They had, however, been intended for a particular group of people and Rudolf Steiner spoke off the cuff, in accord with the given situation and the mood of the workmen at the time. There was no intention to publish at the time. But the very way in which he spoke had a freshness and directness that one would not wish to destroy, taking away the special atmosphere that arose in the souls of those who asked the questions and him who gave the answers. It would be a pity to take away the special colour of it by pedantically rearranging the sentences. We are therefore taking the risk of leaving them as far as possible untouched. Perhaps it will not always be in the accustomed literary style, but on the other hand it has directness and vitality.

In this spirit, the translator has been asked also to preserve as much of the original style, or flavour, as possible. This might necessitate that readers study a passage again, trying to bring to mind the live situation in which the talks were given, before the whole can be fully appreciated.

SG

* 347–354 in the collected works of Rudolf Steiner, published by Rudolf Steiner Verlag, Dornach, Switzerland. For information on English translations, see the following list.

Rudolf Steiner's Lectures to Workers at the Goetheanum

GA (Gesamtausgabe) number

347

The Human Being in Body, Soul and Spirit

(New York/ London: Anthroposophic Press/Rudolf Steiner Press 1989). Revised translation forthcoming, Rudolf Steiner Press

348

From Comets to Cocaine, Answers to Questions

(London: Rudolf Steiner Press 2000)

349

From Limestone to Lucifer, Answers to Questions

(London: Rudolf Steiner Press 1999)

350

From Mammoths to Mediums, Answers to Questions

(London: Rudolf Steiner Press 2000)

351

Nine of the 15 lectures in the German edition are published in

Bees, Nine lectures on the Nature of Bees

(New York: Anthroposophic Press 1998)

352

From Elephants to Einstein, Answers to Questions

(London: Rudolf Steiner Press 1998)

353

From Beetroot to Buddhism, Answers to Questions

(London: Rudolf Steiner Press 1999)

354

The Evolution of the Earth and Man and the Influence of the Stars

(New York/London: Anthroposophic Press/ Rudolf Steiner Press 1987). Revised translation forthcoming, Rudolf Steiner Press

1. Discussion of 19 October 1922

The world situation. Causes of illness

Dr Steiner: Good morning, gentlemen! Have any of you thought of something you would like to ask me?

Question: Concerning the political situation, is Britain sincere in its dealings with Germany, or is it actually conspiring with France to destroy her? On the one side stand the French trying to suppress Germany with reparations, and on the other stand the big capitalists. It is the same with Russia. We know that Germany has made a trade agreement with her, but now we learn that France, too, has made one with Russia. Was this done to sabotage the German agreement? Are you perhaps in a position to make a few remarks on these and other German affairs?

Dr Steiner: Well, gentlemen, perhaps this is the reason why lately we have been more inclined to speak about scientific matters than to discuss political problems. It is much wiser to do so for the simple reason that all these affairs you have touched upon lead to absolutely nothing. In reality, nothing at all can come of them. Just look at the present situation. Basically, none of the protagonists know where they’re heading; everything they do is done from fear, is really a product of fear.

Other things are much more important than all these matters that are based, for example, on the fact that England does not know what it ought to be doing at the moment. England cannot turn her back on France because in England the opinion prevails that promises must be kept. It is the general attitude over there that a person is obliged to keep his promises. But to what extent this notion is sincere—well, that's something that has nothing much to do with actual circumstances. Sincerity pertains only to individual human beings. In regard to public life the most we can say is that a kind of basic principle of ‘fair play’ is acknowledged, that promises must be kept. One must play the game by the rules of fair play. Therefore England quite naturally takes the position that she cannot desert the old Entente, yet this stand contradicts the whole purpose of the war, which was to shift industrial production towards the West and to suppress the economies of Eastern and Central Europe, to turn these areas into markets. This was, in fact, the war's original intention. The economy of Central Europe—and the same would have eventually held true of Eastern Europe as well—was much too prosperous to suit people in the West; they simply didn’t want things that way.

Now in England this view exists side by side with another. If Germany is totally suppressed, a needed export market is lost. On the other hand, the French, above all else, feel their lack of money and purchasing power. Their only objective is to squeeze profits out of Germany by hook or by crook. You can understand now that the English are falling between two stools and, as a result, don’t accomplish much of anything. They swing back and forth. If they think that Germany has been hurt a bit too much, then a little something is done here or there to brighten the general mood again.

In the affairs of the Middle East, England and France are right now in sharp confrontation. England must push back the Turks because she wants to dominate the world. Granted, the English are protecting the Christians, but how sincere their motives are something we needn’t consider. At the moment, France is not interested in that cause. First and foremost the French want an influx of money, and for this reason they support the Turks. In the Middle East, then, these two powers are squared off. Basically, world politics everywhere are in a state of chaos today.

Added to all this is something else especially evident in England just now. With this we come to the really important issue, and many people should realize its importance. Everything that is publically aired and debated is actually of very little importance. What Lloyd George or anybody else says matters not in the least; it is all at odds with the facts. Of course, it isn’t done consciously; people imagine they are talking about the issues, but in fact they are bypassing them. Another matter, however, is of much greater significance. In England, Lloyd George is the centre of a controversy. Should he or should he not remain in office? Now, why is the position of such a man, who can express himself most eloquently in public, so precarious? Quite simply, he no longer has strong party support; his backing is minimal. Yet, what would happen if Lloyd George were replaced? The minister taking his position would himself soon be ousted. Lloyd George has to be retained solely because he has no qualified successors. The crux of the matter is that no new people of real ability are coming along, and so we must settle for individuals whose past performances are a matter of public knowledge, because people can no longer discern whether or not candidates are competent and have a real grasp of the issues.

Not even the Social Democratic Party can find capable people any more. It just continues to support the old guard and shuts the door against aspiring younger members. Because everywhere people cannot recognize human ability, grey-beards, who have lost the faculty to comprehend the present situation, are being kept in office. This is why nothing is accomplished anywhere! So today it doesn’t matter what party a person joins; what matters is that we bring about an environment from which individuals arise who have insight into existing conditions and whose words and actions are based only on facts. People's awareness for what is required diminishes daily. Comments like, ‘Well, it would be better if the English did this, the French that, and the Germans and the Turks thus and so,’ are so much idle chatter. Whatever is done merely from the standpoint of the past cannot succeed.

Take an issue of the last few days. You’ll agree that Germany has suffered greatly from speculation in foreign currency. Even schoolboys have bought foreign money and have ‘made deals’ in foreign exchange. Somebody with 50 marks one day could buy foreign currency and have 75 the next. Huge sums of money could be made from speculation. So what does the German government do? As you know, it passed an emergency law controlling speculation in foreign currency. Now, let's assume that the government agencies are so clever that they themselves can succeed in speculation. I don’t believe they are, but let's assume so. In the next few weeks there would then be less private trading in foreign currencies in Germany. It is no exaggeration that boys 13 and 14 years old were trading in foreign money. What would happen if all this were stopped for a few weeks? A huge gap would arise between the price of necessities like groceries and the amount of money people could afford to spend on them. For example, in Germany today one cigarette costs seven marks. Well, people will pay that amount. Why? Because of the speculation in foreign money. You know that an old man today can’t afford seven marks for a cigarette, but young people who have made all kinds of money speculating can. Now, if this source of income were cut off, soon no one would be able to buy a good cigarette. This is just one aspect of the matter; another is that wages would have to be lowered in the cigarette industry. Then you would have the discrepancy of consumer goods being kept at their former prices and consumers unable to afford them. A new crisis would arise, and this is, in fact, just around the corner.

Everything is done on the spur of the moment, which ensures that one crisis follows another—and all this because people see only what is closest at hand. No results can be achieved in this manner. The only way to get out of the present chaotic situation is to have competent people in office again. To achieve anything we must have people who know what they’re doing, but present conditions tell us that nowhere are capable persons being trained or educated. So we must see to it that we start educating people again in a way that makes them capable. Things won’t progress by the clichés and vacuities people utter; all this is worthless. Just look at any newspaper. You may even happen to like one because it represents your party, but regardless of their political persuasions the facts they publish are worthless and lead to nothing. For this reason it's almost a waste of time to occupy oneself with world politics; the field is barren. The only thing that needs to be considered is that once again education should produce competent people. Competence is what we should aim for because today nobody knows anything.

Those powers confronting the Europeans know the most. The Turks, for example, know exactly what they want, as do the Japanese. They want to further their own cultures, solely their own. Strangely enough, Europeans are indifferent about theirs. You can see now why one is reticent to talk about politics. It's like going to a party and discovering that everyone is indulging in platitudes—you lose interest in joining in. That's pretty much the situation in politics these days.

Not long ago Lloyd George delivered a speech. If you want to give a figurative description of it and you said it resembled a pile of chaff in which a few grains of wheat yet remained, then this comparison would not be quite accurate. You should say, rather, that there was no substance to it at all, that every last grain had been flailed out. Only then would we have a true picture of the speech Lloyd George gave a few days ago. Yet, I can say without a moment's hesitation that it was the most significant address delivered by a statesman in recent weeks. You see, even though his speech was vapid, he did have his fist where his mouth was. He did not actually do so, but one can imagine him pounding the table every so often. That's one thing he can do. His words are empty, but there is something in his fist.

It's the same everywhere. I’ve stopped reading the speeches of Wirth, because the few lines that appear on the front page of the Basel newspaper tell me enough. It's quite clear that his whole speech amounts to nothing. It's all so much hot air, and it's pointless to become elated or depressed about any of it. The thing is, anyone who is really sincere in his regard for humanity must say to himself that everything hinges on our finding competent people who can understand something of the world's problems and who can think, truly think.

For if one considers the remarks of Lloyd George—and perhaps he is actually the most capable of all these politicians—one discovers that he has never had an original thought. He can hold on to his position just because he has no thoughts. Thus, he can vacillate in one or the other direction and what he says is really trite. Were he ever to utter a thought, were the Union Party, the Conservative Party and the Labour Party to discover where they all stood with him, he would, of course, be thrown out of office. His whole skill consists in speaking in such a way that the others can’t discern how they fare with him. If somebody's speech is continually inane, no one knows what to make of it. His great asset is his lack of thoughts, one he can only make use of because he himself does not know where he stands.

These are the conditions today, but this wasn’t the case a few years ago. Two or three years ago one always had to say, ‘Something must be done before it's too late.’ But now it is too late. Nothing can be suggested because we’ve missed the boat; it's simply too late. The most I can say is that things will improve only when qualified, competent people again enter public life. Germany and Russia can sign as many treaties as they want but nothing will come of them. It isn’t a question of signing treaties but of unfolding a healthy economic life.

The Stinnes conglomerate is a good example. Do you think for a moment that Mr Stinnes could accomplish anything within the German labour force? Of course not; that's impossible. Stinnes is an industrialist who has advanced through skilful manipulation of foreign currency. But that is all he knows, how to advance himself, nothing else. Many people today have noticed that the government is getting nowhere, that all its treaties have had no effect on the economy. Since Stinnes acts independently of the government, the results are probably better, some say, but in any event his ideas are based solely on the manipulation of his interests in Germany and France. This is their only basis. Look at the Stinnes agreements and you’ll see what heavy financing they would require. What Stinnes intends to do must be financed somehow. Things are at such a pass, however, that to finance such ventures would just about deplete all one's resources, would mean felling all Austria's forests.

Naturally, a person can talk about all the things he would like to do when in reality none of them can succeed. As soon as he tries to carry one out, it won’t work. People have seen that government treaties lead nowhere, no economic growth results from them. Stinnes's ventures are independent of government help so it is hoped that they will produce results. But it won’t work. It doesn’t matter that he naturally works arm in arm with other big capitalists. His plans cannot be realized because even he will not be able to finance them. Hence Stinnes offers no solution.

Journalists are fascinated by the columns of figures he manipulates, and you see, gentlemen, when they write their editorials or feature sections, they are under no obligation; they can say whatever they please. You probably haven’t saved them, but if you compare the articles written in 1912 with those written today in the same paper, you will discover a curious thing. After all, newspaper articles are ephemeral, no one gives them a second thought, and so journalists can make them as ‘interesting’ as they like. Anyone who feels responsible for his statements, however, and does not fabricate articles at random knows that all of them are nothing but rubbish. This is the situation everywhere. Because people have no original ideas things have become desperate. Above all else we need original thoughts, new ideas; without these everything will go to ruin.

In Germany today it takes 215 marks to buy a toothbrush. But what are 215 marks? Not even one franc! This sounds cheap to us here, but where does a German get 215 marks? Other consumer goods are proportionately more expensive. Today no one can afford an umbrella, but it can’t be helped. When I was in Vienna I once went by taxi because I was in a hurry and it happened to be a holiday. The distance was half a mile, no more. The fare, gentlemen, was 3,600 kronas! Today it would be ten times that. The same ride would cost 36,000 kronas. This is obviously absurd, but other things are equally so, even if people don’t know it. For what is done to remedy this situation? If a short taxi ride costs 36,000 kronas, notes worth 500,000 kronas will be printed, and if it costs 360,000 kronas, notes worth one million will be issued. But such measures have no effect on economic life. Nothing is altered except that those who have a little money in their pockets today have nothing tomorrow, and those who speculate cleverly have double their former amount. But speculation with currency accomplishes nothing as far as the foreign currency exchange market is concerned. It merely enables some people to make money without thought or effort, and when work comes to a halt in the world, hampered by usurious speculation, then things will have indeed reached breaking point. So it accomplishes nothing at all. People simply have to realize that capable persons with insight into the affairs of the world must again take things in hand; there is no other way forward.

To accomplish this we must start with the right kind of education. Today people must begin to learn to understand the world in school. The other day I was reading a textbook that recommended a certain problem in arithmetic, and when I describe it you’ll say, ‘So what?’ But the arithmetic problem posed in this textbook is something of utmost importance. It goes like this:

One person is

years old

Another is

years old

Another is

years old

Another is

years old

What is the total number of years of these four persons?

The children are asked to add all this together; this is what the textbook recommends. Of course, they will do so and arrive at the total of 173 years. Now I ask you, gentlemen, what bearing has this sum on reality? When would you ever need to figure out something like this? For the problem to have any meaning at all, it would have to be posed so that the first person happened to die just when the second was born, and the third died when the last was born. How many years elapsed from the birth of the first person to the death of the last? The former problem is unrealistic; no one will ever have to figure it out in actuality. Giving children problems like this amounts to giving them the most abstract arithmetic imaginable. Children are required to apply their good sense to working out things that are quite unreal.

Well, the person who dreamed up this problem knew no more than that things could be added up. Now let's consider this case. Someone was born on a certain date, went to school until he was 14½ years old and then served as an apprentice for 5½ years. Following that, he worked under various masters for 3 years and then got married. Four years later he had a son, and when the son was 22, the father died. By adding up the years we arrive at the man's age, which is 49. This is something concrete, something real. Children are led out into real life when they are given problems like this and this applies to all situations. Otherwise, they sit for an hour over something that never occurs in actuality, but no one is shocked by this. If you point this out to people, they reply, ‘It doesn’t matter how children learn arithmetic.’ They don’t think it's terribly important. But it happens to be of prime importance, for the people who read rubbish in textbooks as children will eventually spout it as adults; they’ll talk nonsense, nothing but nonsense.

From all this you can understand the need for a renewal in education. The educational method I have spoken of bases everything on reality; from the very beginning it leads the human being into reality. This is what actually counts, and this is also why conditions will invariably worsen if people do things as they have in the past. You can start as many newspapers as you like, but if they are written in the same tired spirit, the same chaos will remain. This is why it is so important today for us to occupy ourselves with matters that will turn people into thinking human beings. For this to happen, however, we must see to it that teachers and textbooks do not present arithmetic problems like the one cited but only those that apply to life. Unfortunately, children are also learning languages, science and social studies in that unrealistic way. Everything is divorced from reality.

I’ve told you that in England it is customary to give those who receive a Master of Arts degree a medieval gown. This had meaning a few hundred years ago and was a reality. Today, it's different. Today someone can be a consultant to the government or something else and it means absolutely nothing. Things are just the same in those countries that underwent revolutions. You must realize that a complete change in education is called for; everything depends on that.

Does anybody else have a question that concerns you?

Question: It is claimed that the appendix may be removed without harm to the patient. We know that frequently this and other organs are taken out in operations. Earlier, we discussed the significance of the internal organs, and I would like to know what effect it has on a person if he is missing any.

Dr Steiner: I can only answer this question after we have considered something else first, which I shall gladly do now.

Additional question: In recent lectures we have discussed the influence of the planets on man; I am interested in hearing more about this.

Dr Steiner: What I have to say now will have a bearing on it. I shall answer these questions today and see how far we get. But first I would like to tell you a story to demonstrate the kind of knowledge we will be pursuing from now on.

In the early ‘nineties of the last century, about 30 or 31 years ago, an official North American trading and transport company held a convention. Invited to this meeting was a prominent financier named William Windom. By the standards of those gathered there he was a brilliant man, a person whom one immediately recognized as an authority. He was expected to give an address at this convention, and indeed he did so.

Windom began his speech by saying, ‘We need to reform our whole trade and transport system, for as they are today they contain something unhealthy.’ He then went on to explain what money is; in his fairly short speech he touched on the significance of money. He said, ‘Well, gentlemen, I have now analysed national economic matters for you. But the point is that one realizes that the whole thing does not work. However much the currency circulates due to commerce and passes from hand to hand, that does not determine what in fact makes national industry sound. What does make an industry sound are the moral concepts that people have. Unless moral concepts also flow through commerce, and money circulates in such a way that moral concepts are tied in with it, we get no further.’ That is what he said.

Windom said that immoral concepts in commercial and industrial life is like having poison in the human bloodstream. If immoral concepts accompany the circulation of money in transportation and industry, it is as if poison were to contaminate the blood in the arteries. Just as a person becomes ill from poison in his system, so does the economic body become unhealthy when poison—that is, immoral concepts—runs through its network.

Now it struck his listeners that Mr Windom became a bit grey as he spoke of arteries in the context of economic life. They were surprised that someone who had previously spoken only of matters pertaining to economy and finance, who had in fact begun his speech on these subjects, should suddenly use this rather apt analogy and even elaborate on it. He described in detail how poison penetrates the blood and referred to moral concepts. This was indeed a change of subject, and after uttering the words, ‘Immoral concepts go like poison through the arteries of industrial commerce,’ he collapsed. He had a stroke and died on the spot.

Here you have an example of the phenomenon I have often mentioned and from which we may learn a great deal. It is quite obvious what happened here. The speech certainly did not kill him because he was not even excited at the time. He would have had a stroke even if he had been doing something completely different; the conditions for it were simply present in his system. By no means was the stroke brought on by the speech, although it conceivably hastened it by an hour. In any event, his system had been predisposed to a stroke for a long time, and he would have had it anywhere else as well.

The other point to be observed here is that he suddenly left his topic and began to describe his own inner condition. This he did quite logically and within the boundaries of his talk. Imagine, the man stands before his audience and speaks to them about something thoroughly economic; suddenly the course of this thought changes as he turns rather grey. He keeps to the theme of his address, but what he describes now is his own condition before death. This is what he turned to; his speech took this direction on account of his own inner condition. Much can be learned from this, which also happens in other, less drastic forms.

Let us suppose a speaker loses his train of thought. This is something I have witnessed more than once. The speaker usually faces his audience confidently at first, but having lost his train of thought he makes a slight movement and glances downward—to where he has placed his top hat, which his speech is under! After he has found the thread of his thought again he can resume talking. Something like that can happen. I once saw a mayor, who got stuck after the first ten words, pick up his hat and bravely proceed to read the speech right off. The mayor could read, but if he had continued to talk without his notes, if he had spoken impromptu, well, nothing but twaddle would have come out. He could read; otherwise, his speech would have amounted to nothing.