It is incumbent upon anthroposophists to be keenly aware of everything going on in the world and to meet it with the wit and wisdom provided through the study of Rudolf Steiner’s teachings. Integrating Steiner’s cosmology with the scientific discoveries that happen every day in our modern world will reveal that Steiner was far ahead of his time. Steiner’s clear ideas on the etheric formative forces still provide the best answer for a Theory of Everything. His indications on the location of the galactic and super-galactic centers of the universe came decades before science confirmed his indications. In Steiner’s Astronomy Course, the center of mass of our solar system was indicated not to reside in the center of our sun, rather a point found by combining the mass of the sun and the three inner planets as a counterpoint to the three outer planets. All three of these astronomical indications of Steiner have now been proven to be true. There are hundreds of other examples of Steiner’s “predictions” that seem crazy at the time but have been found to be quite accurate and lead to new energy sources and endless discovery. An integrated anthroposophist, which we would call a neoanthroposophist, would be thrilled watching the newest discoveries of science that align with Steiner’s indications of a hundred years ago. One could say that Steiner was the unsung prophet of modern science and that a careful examination of his works will uncover the future discoveries and revelations that will change our world. Steiner was at least 100 years ahead of his time, and we can use his foresight to help define and reimagine the world in a non-materialistic science of the spirit that places the human being at the heart of a living universe. Each one of us is, in fact, a copy of the universe, a microcosm of the macrocosm. The human being should be the focus of all efforts of spiritual development and those efforts should integrate with the modern world and scientific innovation. Steiner gave a picture of the Essene community at the time of Jesus of Nazareth that showed the “wrong way” to remove yourself from the outer world and live in a little paradise that keeps Lucifer and Ahriman from entering. This seclusion and renunciation made the Essenes prideful and caused them to reject Lucifer and Ahriman, subsequently keeping these forces in the outer world far from the inner sanctum of the elect. This sequestering of the Essenes is often repeated by anthroposophists who hide out in the Anthroposophical Society and believe that if they only associate with other anthroposophists they will not have to deal with Lucifer and Ahriman. This is sadly untrue and, in fact, causes Lucifer and Ahriman to take hold of them even stronger when they eventually must come out of the inner group and interact with “evil” in the world. The other tendency of anthroposophists is to take up the habit of talking at length about being a follower of Mani, who Steiner said will lead humanity in fighting evil in the future. This seemingly “brave” tendency of “Manichean Anthroposophist” is well intended but often misdirected. The challenge of our time is to “face” evil, not “conquer” evil. The time for conquering evil will not come for thousands of years.

Facing evil in our time is the task of our age.

The ability to develop discernment between evil and good is our current mission. This confusion causes many anthroposophists to retreat from the world after attempting to “conquer” the evil of our times and failing miserably. This impending evil is overwhelming at this stage of evolution and only an initiate can cognize, absorb, and conquer evil. Most anthroposophists try to cognize evil and cannot understand its roots and fall back to the safe and secure arms of other anthroposophists who convene in their Waldorf community or anthroposophic initiative and just let the evil world roll by as they eat their biodynamic vegetables and sing their Waldorf grace before eating. If they can have a little eurythmy after eating, they are “right” with the world. This is a sad delusion. Steiner told us to read the Kalevala, the Finnish national epic, as a guidebook for the challenges of our time. Few Anthroposophists have ever read this book, but if they did they would notice that the challenges presented to the three heroes are the same challenges we meet in our own age. It is recognition of evil and its control over your desires that is displayed in the plot of the Kalevala.

They are fighting to win the Sampo, a free-energy device that produces gold, salt, and meal.

The owner of this magic machine would be the wealthiest person on the earth. Each hero must personally struggle with their own double before they can attempt an onslaught against evil to steal the magic wonder-machine, the Sampo. I won’t spoil the end of the story for you, but let’s just say it is not such a happy quest and the heroes are challenged individually to the limits of their being. The hero does eventually forge the magic Sampo, but it is taken by evil and eventually destroyed. The story truly embodies the challenges of our age to face evil within and without and to not attempt to kill evil because it, too, is a part of yourself that you need to absorb and turn to good use. Just like Strader, in the mystery dramas, develops a new machine with wondrous capacities, so too each of us must find the physical and spiritual “engines” to drive our lives that make us rich like the owner of the Sampo or the Strader machine. Evil in the world comes in many sizes and shapes but usually distills into an economic concern. Unless you live in a Camphill community or some other anthroposophic ideal setting that provides you with all you need to live, you must pay the devil his due – give unto Caesar what is Caesar’s. Money, or the evil mammon, can become a helpful tool instead of the chains that bind your body, soul, and spirit. “Earning a living” is a modern phrase that shows that there is little dignity afforded to the human being in the modern world. You don’t deserve to “have a living” but must slave to “earn a living.” And who exactly are we earning that living from? Them – the man – the cold, hard world – Ceasar – the rat race – the devil – Ahriman, are all names given to the forces that demand that we “earn a living.” You must pay the bills, but perhaps there is a wondrous machine that can help you create the free energy that is all around us ready for the taking. What if you could integrate with the world and not have the effects of Lucifer and Ahriman hanging over your head telling you that you are not worthy of “a living” and that you must compromise yourself and your integrity to pay the bills? What if using the forces developed through the study of anthroposophy led you to a place where money was honest and simply living your life provided all that you need? This pipe dream is possible for those who do not sacrifice their integrity to be “removed” from the evil world of Lucifer and Ahriman. It is possible to use the forces of Lucifer and Ahriman for good and to make our lives better. If we follow Steiner’s advice and fully enter the world and have great interest for all things going on in the world economically, politically, and spiritually then we might be able to see the spirit unfolding and ride that “wave” as a source of nourishment on all levels. For instance, there are new energy devices that have been created that can revolutionize the world and quell the evil forces of the petrochemical corporations. See our article The Free Energy Revolution Has Begun. Aligning oneself with these budding technologies could not only cut the chains of economic enslavement but they could also make you abundantly provided for. When you discover that there are cars and generators than run on tap water alone, then the Big Oil companies no longer have control over you – evil is faced-off. If you start to sell these new energy devices, you could benefit from a business that not gives you an income, but also supports your beliefs in clean energy and reducing the carbon footprint of gas guzzling cars and power plants that are radioactive or use dirty fuels. Water is life and it can drive our inside and outside worlds if we integrate with the modern world and face-off with the huge oil corporations that produce the evil of “oil-wars” and filthy fuels. Simple cognitive awareness of evil that leads you to understand the need to find new energy sources could be the motivating force that allows you to not only face-off evil consciously but to also go beyond the enslavement of fossil fuels to the new day of natural energy that sets you and the world free. You can become the smithy who forges the new Sampo that provides all that is needed. Some of the new energy devices addressed in the above article are directly aligned with the spiritual scientific ideas of Rudolf Steiner. Many inventors credit the “ethers” as the motive force behind their discoveries. Steiner’s ideas on the ethers will inform technical innovation for centuries to come. Steiner revealed the forces working in nature and from those indications have come many inventions in many different areas of life.  Just in medicine alone, Steiner and his followers have invented hundreds of new medicines that are very effective. A list of Steiner’s discoveries would fill a book and those indications will lead new technologies in the future. It is often the case that these “new inventors” are well-aware of Steiner’s teachings and use them as inspiration for scientific inventions. From Steiner’s ideas, we can develop a cosmology that informs modern science and the science of the spirit. The only difference between them is whether the human being stands as the foundation and source for all scientific inquiry. The human being must be the question and the answer for all modern problems of energy, innovation, and discovery. As the wise words of the Greek mystery schools say, “Oh man, know thyself and thou shalt know the gods and the world.” Article by Douglas Gabriel. 2017 All Rights Reserved @ http://www.neoanthroposophy.com