The Rose Cross Meditation E-Book

Rudolf Steiner

• Herausgeber: Rudolf Steiner Press
• Kategorie: Ratgeber
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2016

Beschreibung

The Rose Cross meditation is central to the western - Rosicrucian - path of personal development as presented by Rudolf Steiner. Steiner repeatedly referred to the meditation as a 'symbol of human development' that illustrates the transformation of the human being's instincts and desires. These work unconsciously in the soul, and in thought, feeling and will. Through personal development, the 'I' - the essential self - can gain mastery over these unconscious forces of the soul. The Rose Cross meditation features the red rose as an image to which the student, via specific means, aspires. To the plant is added the black cross which, pointing to the mystery of death and resurrection, provides a symbol of the higher development of the human I. The metamorphosis of the roses and the cross into the symbol of the Rose Cross is brought about by the student's inner efforts, creating an entirely new image. This becomes the starting point for further steps along the meditative path.The Rose Cross meditation is the only pictorial meditation whose content and structure Steiner described in such detail. In this invaluable book, the editor has drawn together virtually all Rudolf Steiner's statements on the subject, arranging them chronologically within the motif of each chapter. His words are supported by commentary and notes.

Leseprobe

RUDOLF STEINER (1861–1925) called his spiritual philosophy ‘anthroposophy’, meaning ‘wisdom of the human being’. As a highly developed seer, he based his work on direct knowledge and perception of spiritual dimensions. He initiated a modern and universal ‘science of spirit’, accessible to anyone willing to exercise clear and unprejudiced thinking.

From his spiritual investigations Steiner provided suggestions for the renewal of many activities, including education (both general and special), agriculture, medicine, economics, architecture, science, philosophy, religion and the arts. Today there are thousands of schools, clinics, farms and other organizations involved in practical work based on his principles. His many published works feature his research into the spiritual nature of the human being, the evolution of the world and humanity, and methods of personal development. Steiner wrote some 30 books and delivered over 6000 lectures across Europe. In 1924 he founded the General Anthroposophical Society, which today has branches throughout the world.

THE ROSE CROSS MEDITATION

An Archetype of Human Development

RUDOLF STEINER

Selected and compiled by Christiane Haid

RUDOLF STEINER PRESS

Translated by Johanna Collis

Rudolf Steiner PressHillside House, The SquareForest Row, RH18 5ES

www.rudolfsteinerpress.com

Published by Rudolf Steiner Press 2016

Originally published in German under the title Die Rosenkreuzmeditation by Futurum Verlag, Basel, in 2013

© Futurum Verlag 2013This translation © Rudolf Steiner Press 2016

All rights reserved. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, electrical, chemical, mechanical, optical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner. Inquiries should be addressed to the Publishers

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

Print book ISBN: 978 1 85584 528 2Ebook ISBN: 978 1 85584 486 5

Cover by Morgan CreativeTypeset by DP Photosetting, Neath, West Glamorgan

Contents

Introduction

1.   Sources—Goethe's Fragment The Mysteries as a Point of Departure

2.   The Rosicrucian Schooling Path and the Rose Cross Meditation—Developing the Images

3.   The Rose Cross Meditation in Occult Science, An Outline—Further Suggestions as to Method

4.   Caduceus and Rose Cross—Protective Meditations

5.   The Rose Cross Meditation with Mantric Verses given to Individual Pupils

6.   Rose Cross, Grail, Tao

7.   The Rose Cross Meditation and the Rosicrucian Maxim

Notes

Sources

Introduction

The Rose Cross Meditation belongs among the pivotal picture-meditations of the anthroposophical schooling path. It is indeed the only meditation of which the content and pictorial structure are described as an example by Rudolf Steiner in every detail in his basic work Occult Science—An Outline (1910). He repeatedly called this meditation a ‘symbol of human development’—for it demonstrates the transformation of the human being's instinctual urges, at work in the unconscious forces of the blood, into a configuration of the soul which is governed by the I. The plant, in its selfless surrender to the forces of the cosmos, here serves as the ideal image to which the student, via specific steps, becomes ever more akin in thought, feeling and will. To the plant, or more specifically the rose, is added a further element: the black cross which, in the way it points to the mystery of death and resurrection, provides a symbol of the higher development of the human I.

While the picture elements of the Rose Cross Meditation, the red roses and the black cross, belong to the sense-perceptible world of objects, their combination into the meaningful symbol of the Rose Cross is brought about solely by the student who thus creates an entirely new image. This then becomes the starting point for further steps along the meditative path.

Rudolf Steiner developed the build-up of pictures and symbolism over many years. The prolonged process of its creation (Chapters 1 and 2), together with its significant thematic environment, reaches from the Rosicrucian verse Ex Deo nascimur ... (Chapters 2 and 7) via numerous descriptions in lectures and connections with other pictorial meditations (Chapters 4, 6 and 7) right up to the verse mantras accompanying this picture-meditation (Chapter 5). The sequence of themes will be shown in the separate chapters and is here sketched briefly for clarification.

As early on as 1904 Rudolf Steiner spoke in general terms about his appreciation of Rosicrucian wisdom (4 November 1904, GA/CW 93); indeed, appreciation of Rosicrucianism can even be found expressed in his earliest writings. The methodical aspect of Rosicrucian schooling, as an initiation method appropriate for modern consciousness, came to the fore in his teachings over subsequent years which at that time still took place within the Theosophical Society. This schooling method, loosely linked as it is to the Rosicrucian tradition, has, as Rudolf Steiner describes it,* little in common with the understanding of Rosicrucianism generally accepted in his day.†

Rudolf Steiner spoke about the Rose Cross and its significance in connection with the works of Goethe from 1905 onwards, focusing especially on Goethe's concept of ‘dying and becoming’. He also considered Goethe's poem The Mysteries in several lectures. This tells in poetic images of Brother Mark's pilgrimage as he follows wondrous paths leading to a portal displaying a rose-encircled cross. Goethe's poem, which remained a fragment, endows the symbol of the Rose Cross with a special mood (see Chapter 1).

This mood also pervades the dialogue between the Rosi-crucian teacher and his pupil mentioned by Rudolf Steiner in several lectures. In a kind of paradigmatic tutoring situation this centres on a comparison between plant and human being.

The Rose Cross specific to anthroposophy appears for the first time in its characteristic form on the invitation to the International Congress of the European Federation of the Theosophical Society. The invitation to come to Munich was extended by the German Section, of which Rudolf Steiner was General Secretary at the time. The image of the Rose Cross is depicted against a bluish-green background, here with eight red roses encircling the two intersecting beams of a black cross. Rudolf Steiner explained in a letter that eight roses were intended for an exoteric context, whereas seven roses, with three above and four below the cross-beam, would represent the esoteric Rose Cross.*

The texts assembled here (extracts from lectures,† pivotal passages from Occult Science, notes of the esoteric lessons and examples from the abundance of mantric verses relating to the Rose Cross Meditation) can present only a limited view of the theme as a whole, focusing on the Rose Cross itself. It goes without saying that for an overall comprehension of what is described it is necessary to consult the texts in full. In this sense the present selection from the abundance of available material should be seen as an introduction to Rudolf Steiner's works in their entirety.

The texts collected here are arranged chronologically within the motif of each chapter. Readers for whom the subject matter is new might do well to begin by reading Chapter 3 in order initially to gain familiarity with the completed final version of the meditation. What needs to be taken into account here is that in the book Occult Science the meditation is preceded by an introductory consideration of the being of man and followed by a description of the human being in his interrelationship with earth and cosmos. If the reader has studied this work, he or she will have followed a specific path in thought and thus have been provided with the thinking prerequisites necessary for coming to grips with the demands made by the meditation both mentally and in connection with the will. The present collection can neither replace this didactic and methodical preparation nor of itself fulfil its purpose.

In the way I have arranged the various subjects and texts I have endeavoured to provide a sequence that can indicate the breadth of this pivotal anthroposophical theme. I hope interested readers may continue to delve further into this field both among the collected works of Rudolf Steiner and in relevant further literature.

Christiane Haid

* See Chapter 2.

† See also Andreas Neider, Anthroposophie und Rosenkreuzertum, Dornach 2007.

* See GA 264, p. 124.

† With regard to extracts from lectures and the esoteric lessons, one must remember that these are based on notes taken by members of the audience only some of whom were professional stenographers. Especially in the case of the esoteric lessons, the texts were mostly written down later from memory and cannot therefore be seen as authentic records. They nevertheless contain valuable hints so long as the reader remains aware of the situation in which they were written down.

1. Sources—Goethe's Fragment The Mysteries as a Point of Departure

Knowledge could only be attained at life's expense.1 A legend will explain what those in the know thought about this. When Seth wanted to enter into Paradise once more, the Cherub with the fiery sword allowed him to pass. There he found that the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge were entwined with one another. The Cherub permitted him to take three seeds from that intertwined tree. The tree depicts what the human being is to become and what the initiate has already attained. When Adam had died, Seth took the three seeds and placed them in Adam's mouth. Out of these grew a flaming bush in which three words were written: ‘Ehjeh Asher Ehjeh’—’I am he who is, was and will be.’ The legend tells further that Moses made his staff out of this. And later on, the portal of Solomon's Temple was built from the same wood. Then a piece of it fell into the pool of Bethesda, bestowing magical powers on it. And finally Christ's cross was made from it. It is an image portraying life dying and ending in death while having within it the strength to bring forth new life.

Here is a mighty symbol: life which has overcome death, wood from a seed out of Paradise. This is what the Rose Cross shows us: life perishing and rising again. So it was not without reason that the great poet Goethe said:

And so long you have not this,

This dying and becoming,

You’ll be but a gloomy guest

On the dark earth turning.2

What a wonderful correlation between the Tree of Paradise, the wood of the cross and the life sprouting from it! The Christ Idea, the Holy Night,* is to represent for us the birth of the eternal human being into temporal life. Human beings must apply this to themselves today: ‘The light shines in the darkness,’ and gradually the darkness shall comprehend the light. All those souls in which the Holy Night generates the proper spark will feel within themselves what it is that the Holy Night brings to birth within them, namely the capacity that will become for them a force enabling them to see, to feel and to will how this saying is reversed and comes to mean: ‘The light shines into the darkness,’3 and little by little the darkness has come to comprehend the light.

First of all we hear that Goethe wants to show us the pilgrimage of one such human being, hinting that such a pilgrimage can lead to many a wrong track, that it is not easy to find the right path, and that one must have patience and dedication in order to reach the goal.4 Those who possess these qualities will find the light they are seeking. Here are the introductory lines of the poem:5

A wondrous song is here prepared for many.

Hear it with joy! Tell all from far and near!

The way will lead you out o’er mount and valley:

Now is the view obscured, now wide and clear,

And if the path should glide into the bushes,

That you have gone astray you need not fear,

For by a persevering, patient climb

We shall draw near our goal, when it is time.

But no one will, despite profound reflection,

Unravel all the wonders hidden here:

Our mother earth brings forth so many flowers,

And many shall find something to revere;

Maybe that one will gloomily forsake us,

Another stays with gestures full of cheer:

For many wand’ring pilgrims flows the spring,

To each a different pleasure it will bring.

This is the situation in which we are placed. We are shown a pilgrim who, were we to ask him, would not be able to describe to us intellectually what we have just put forward as an esoteric Christian idea;* but he is a pilgrim in whose heart and soul these ideas are alive, but transformed into feelings. It is not easy to discover everything hidden within this poem entitled The Mysteries. Goethe described it as a process which takes place within a human being in whom the loftiest ideas, thoughts and notions are transformed into feelings and sensations. How does this transformation come about?

We are embodied many times, living through one incarnation after another. We learn many and various things as each provides numerous opportunities through which we accumulate new experiences. But it is not possible for us to carry every detail over from one incarnation into the next. When we are born again there is no need for every one of those previously learned features to be revived. If we have learned a great deal in one incarnation, and have then died and been born again, there is no need for all our ideas to come back to life. We live with the fruits of that former incarnation, for we then live with the fruits of what we have learned. Our sensations, our feelings are in tune with the knowledge gained in earlier incarnations.

We find an expression of something wondrous in this poem by Goethe. It introduces us to a human being who, in the simplest manner—as though ‘out of the mouths of babes’ rather than in the form of intellectual ideas—imparts to us the highest wisdom as the fruit of former knowledge. He has transformed that former knowledge into feelings and sensitivities and is thus called upon to guide others who are perhaps more bound up in their intellect. In a pilgrim of this stature, whose mature soul has transmuted much of the knowledge gained in former incarnations into direct feeling and sensitivity, we are presented with a pilgrim such as Brother Mark. As a member of a secret brotherhood he is sent on an important mission to another secret brotherhood.

He journeys through many a region and, being weary, arrives at a mountain where he finally follows a path to the summit. Every aspect of this poem is profoundly significant. Having reached the summit he espies a monastery in a nearby valley. This monastery is the abode of another brotherhood, the one to which he has been sent. Above the gateway to this monastery he sees something out of the ordinary. He sees the cross depicted in a special way, namely the cross entwined with roses! On seeing this he speaks words pregnant with meaning which can only be comprehended by those who know how very many times these words have been spoken in the secret brotherhood: ‘Who has joined roses with the cross?’ He sees three rays beaming from the centre of the cross as though from the sun. There is no need for him to call up before his soul the significance of this profound symbol. Within his soul, his mature soul, the sensitivity and feeling for the meaning is alive. His mature soul is familiar with all that lives in it.

What is the significance of this cross? He knows that it is many things including, among much else, the threefold lower nature of the human being: his physical body, his ether body and his astral body. Into this the I is born. The Rose Cross denotes the fourfold human being: in the cross the physical, the etheric and the astral human being, and in the roses the I. Why do the roses represent the I? In esoteric Christianity the roses were added to the cross because the Christ Principle was seen as a summons to raise the I, in so far as it was incarnated within the three bodies, to become an ever higher and more lofty I. In the Christ Principle was seen the power to raise up the I ever higher and higher.

The cross is the emblem of death in an entirely special sense. [...]

Die and then become; overcome what you have initially been granted in your three lower bodies. Slay it, not in order to lust after death but in order to purify what exists in those three bodies so that in your I you may gain the power to absorb ever greater perfection. When you slay what you have been given in your three lower bodies, the power of ever greater perfection will enter into you. Into his I, the Christian individual shall absorb, in the Christ Principle, the power of perfection right down into his blood. This power shall be at work right into the blood.

The blood is the expression of the I. In the red roses the esoteric Christian saw, in the blood and also in the I purified by the Christ Principle, that which leads the human being up to his higher self where it transforms the astral body into Spirit Self, the ether body into Life Spirit and the physical body into Spirit Man. This is how the Christ Principle meets us with profound symbolism in the threefold shining beam combined with the Rose Cross.

Above the throne of the Thirteenth, Brother Mark sees this symbol again: the cross entwined with roses, the sign which is both a symbol of the fourfold nature of the human being and also, in the red roses, of the purified blood or I-principle, the principle of the higher human being.6 And then he sees, as a further symbol to the left and right of the throne of the Thirteenth, what is to be overcome by this sign. On the right he sees the fire-hued dragon: it is a representation of the human being's astral aspect.

In Christian esotericism it was known that the human soul can be surrendered to the three lower bodies. If it is thus surrendered, the lower aspects of life of those bodies will hold sway in the soul. In astral perception, this is expressed by the dragon. It is no mere symbol but indeed a very real sign. The dragon is an expression of what must initially be conquered. In the passions, in the forces of astral fire belonging to the physical human being, in this dragon, Christian esotericism—out of which spirit this poem was written and which spread across Europe—saw what humanity had received from the hot regions, from the south. From the south comes that part of the human being which is hotly passionate and oriented more towards his baser sensuality. And one sensed that in what flowed down in the cooler influences from the north lay the origin of the initial impulse to counter and overcome this.

The influence of the cooler north, the descent of the I into the threefold bodily nature, is depicted by an ancient symbol taken from the constellation of the Bear, expressed by a hand being thrust into a bear's jaws. In this way the lower nature of the human being, depicted in the fiery dragon, is overcome. What has been retained in the higher animal nature was depicted in the bear; and the I, having developed beyond the dragon nature, was profoundly depicted by the outstretched human hand in the bear's jaws. On either side of the Rose Cross there appears what it is that the Rose Cross must conquer. And it is the Rose Cross which challenges the human being to purify himself to ever higher degrees.

This poem does indeed depict for us most profoundly the principle of esoteric Christianity [...].

The most significant among the symbols and signs we possess, the one which has been recognized by all occultists in every age, is the human being as such.7 The human being has been and always is spoken of as a microcosm, a small world. And rightly so, for those who gain an accurate and intimate knowledge of the human being will realize ever more clearly that in the human being we have in miniature everything, every part of all that surrounds us in nature. This may not be easy to understand at first, but if you think about it you will come to grasp what is meant, namely that in the human being we have a kind of extract, a compendium of nature, of all the substances and all the forces. If you take any plant and study its essential nature sufficiently profoundly you will find something, however small, of the same essential nature in the human organism. And if you take an animal you will always discover in it something of what the human organism has absorbed.

Of course in order to gain a proper understanding of this it will be necessary to consider the evolution of the world from an occult viewpoint. Thus, for example, the occultist knows that the human heart would not be as it is if there were no such creature as the lion in outer nature. Let us go back to an earlier time when no lions existed. Human beings did exist, for the human being is the oldest being, but his heart was then entirely different. There are interconnections everywhere in nature, although they are not always immediately obvious. When in the far distant past the human being was developing his heart to become what it is today, the lion came into being. Both were formed by the same forces. It is as though you were to distil the essential being of the lion and, with divine craftsmanship, form it into the human heart.

You may be of the opinion that there is nothing lion-like in the human heart, but for the occultist there is. Don’t forget that when something is placed into a context, into an organism, it becomes entirely different from what it is when it is not connected. Looked at conversely, one could also say that if you were able to extricate the essence of the heart and then set about constructing an entity which is consistent with it when it is not being determined by an organism, then you would have a lion. All the qualities of courage, of boldness or, as the occultist would say, of ‘kingship’ in the human being stem from the connection with the lion; and Plato, who was an initiate, saw the kingly soul as being located in the heart.

Paracelsus made use of a very beautiful simile regarding this connection between the human being and nature. He said: It is as though the individual creatures in nature are the letters while the human being is the word they spell. Out there lies the great world, the macrocosm; within us is the small world, the microcosm. Out there everything exists of itself while in the human being all is determined by a harmony with the other organs. This is one way of illustrating, through the human being, the evolution of our entire cosmos in so far as it is connected with us.

One depiction of this evolution of the human being in connection with the world to which he belongs is to be found in the seals which were displayed on the walls of the auditorium during our Munich Congress. Let us have a look at what they tell us!*

The first depicts a human being, clothed in a white garment, whose feet look metallic, like molten ore. A flaming sword projects from his mouth; his right hand is encirled by the signs relating to our own planet: Saturn, Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus. Those who know the Apocalypse of John will remember that it contains a very similar description of this picture, for John was an initiate. This seal depicts what might be termed the idea of the human being as a whole. We shall understand this when we remember certain ideas with which the older members present here are already familiar.