BAD, BADDER, BADDEST 

Authors of Evil

   

   

        




This page originally appeared on a different website.

I have modified it for use here.


 


Did you ever wonder why things go so wrong so often? Well, there are some real S.O.B.s out there — you can lay a lot of the blame on them. Lucifer, for one. Don't meet him in a dark alley. And there are other spiritual troublemakers to worry about, as well. According to Rudolf Steiner, Lucifer is at least equaled in malevolence by a little-known Zoroastrian thug called Ahriman.


I'll confine myself to a handful of illustrative quotes. For the first, I'll turn to a much-used all-American reference work. For the others, I'll hand the mike to R. Steiner. (But fear not. I'll also sling a lot of my own verbiage, aiming to help explain things as we move along.)


“Aha Mazda is the chief god in a religion of ancient Persia called Zoroastrianism. The deity is also called Ohrmazd. The god is the creator of all things and the judge of all peoples. Zoroastrians believe that Aha Mazda is in continuous conflict with the evil spirit Ahriman. At the end of time, Aha Mazda will triumph and Ahriman will be destroyed. All people must decide whether they will follow Aha Mazda or Ahriman. They will be rewarded or punished after their death, depending on their choice.” [1] 


The conflict between Aha Mazda and Ahriman is paralleled by combats described in other religions, struggles between powers of light and powers of darkness, good contending with evil. From the dawn of consciousness, mankind has pondered the question of evil. How can God or the gods permit evil to exist? How can we reconcile the reality of evil with the presumed beneficence of God or the gods?


Perhaps the easiest answer is that the good spirits presiding over the universe are opposed by bad spirits. God presides in Heaven, sending down His beneficence, but Satan rules in Hell, sending up his malice. The dichotomy may be depicted in slightly different terms in different religions (Aha Mazda is opposed by Ahriman, or the hierarchies of loving gods are fought by the legions of perverse demons...), but the basic vision is the same. Evil is not God's fault. Evil comes from God's enemies.


Another answer, somewhat more subtle, is that evil is not really a force at work in the universe. Evil is, in a sense, an illusion. It is a mistake, the result of imperfections in the structure or in the functioning of the cosmos. Sometimes the good intentions of the gods are not wholly fulfilled, something goes wrong, and "evil" (wrong conduct, pain, destruction) results. "Evil," in this view, is just a glitch.


Yet a third answer, more subtle still, is that "evil" is actually a species of good. God lets Satan tempt us, so that in the process we can be tested and educated. We are presented with the option of doing wrong, so that we may consciously choose to do right. Satan may not intend to serve God, but in a sense he does. Our spirits are burnished when we learn to resist Satan, and thus in the end God's glory will be universally manifest. Everything works out for the best, in the end.


Strains of all three solutions can be found in Anthroposophy. Adherents are drawn to Steiner's teachings because the third solution often seems paramount, and it is deeply reassuring, affirming ultimate divine benevolence. But Steiner left the other two possibilities open as well. He said the benevolent gods are opposed by malicious gods, and he said the cosmic structure sometimes malfunctions. Thus, in discussing the devastation of war, he said 


"[W]e are watching the battle waged by the good gods against the evil gods." [2]


And in explaining the existence of evil or demonic people, he pointed to the possibility that things may sometimes just get out of whack. 


"There are quite a large number of older people going around who are actually not human beings ... [T]hey are human beings only in regard to their form ... Cosmic error is certainly not impossible." [3]

 

 

                                 

  

   

Steiner catalogued many evil spirits, many entities who wreak ill. [See "Evil Ones".] Some of these are not so much bad as retarded — that is, they may not be intentionally malicious, but they lag behind their better counterparts, they are less evolved, they are backward. Thus, they become "abnormal spirits" who have committed the "sin" of failing to evolve properly. In a sense, applying the term "evil" to them is an injustice. On the other hand, however, their failure to follow the best path at the proper pace causes them to become truly, deeply evil sooner or later, Steiner said. This sad story is all the sadder when the errant ones originally had high status.


"If the most outstanding fall and commit the 'great sin' of not advancing with evolution, then they become the very worst of all. The noble sense of liberty has been reversed into wickedness, into its opposite. Those are the Spirits of Temptation, and they must be taken gravely into account; they lead to the evil side of egoism, even today they are still in our environment, these evil Spirits of Saturn. All that is bad draws its power from these Spirits." [4]


Steiner had various names for demons or evil gods. Here, you see them identified as Spirits of Temptation. They are like Satan, then — or, taken jointly, they actually are  Satan.


On other occasions, Steiner spoke of Spirits of Darkness, Spirits of Adversity, Spirits of Hindrance, and so on. All of these spirits work against the proper unfolding of evolution; all cause the cosmic system to malfunction. They oppose the good gods' divine cosmic plan, or — at the very least — they complicate the realization of that plan, threatening to undo it. Steiner forecast the ultimate victory of the powers of good, but he also indicated that this victory is not assured. The cosmos and its denizens may go astray. The divine plan may fail.


As I have already indicated, Steiner spoke repeatedly of two great demons who play particularly large — and potentially destructive — roles in cosmic evolution. They are Lucifer and Ahriman. In a sense, these are two faces of Evil. They tempt mankind, offering us gifts. These gifts may be helpful and even necessary, but they are also potentially terrible snares. 


The two great demons conspire to oppose the divine plan. Thus, for instance, Steiner said Lucifer and Ahriman derailed human evolution in such a way that older, lower types of human beings continued to exist even as other humans evolved to a higher level. The good gods wanted all humans to evolve together, moving upward cooperatively to approach the ideal human form. But Lucifer and Ahriman subverted the plan. 


“[I]t was planned that human beings would complete the necessary schooling [to attain] the perfection of the human type ... However, Lucifer and Ahriman interfered ... Lucifer and Ahriman preserved older racial forms...so that there was a coexistence of races rather than a succession.” [5]


Steiner's views on race surely strike us, today, as evil. I discuss this matter in some detail elsewhere here at Waldorf Watch. [See, e.g., "Steiner's Racism".] But the chief point for our current discussion is this: According to Steiner, there are evil gods or demons who interfere in the proper unfolding of the cosmos — evil gods or demons who oppose the plans of the good and benevolent gods.

 

 

                             

  

   

The harm caused by Lucifer and Ahriman would not be great if, in the end, it redounded to our benefit. If Lucifer and Ahriman were, ultimately, on the side of the good, then their activities would ultimately prove beneficial. Steiner sometimes described this very possibility. But on other occasions, he indicated that Lucifer and Ahriman are indeed evil, demonic, devilish. Their intentions are wicked; they concoct their schemes in opposition to the divine plan. 


"It would be the richest prize for Lucifer and Ahriman if they could ever succeed in capturing a whole soul for themselves; for thereby such a soul would disappear into the Eighth Sphere [a place of perdition] and be lost from Earth-evolution. The greatest victory for Lucifer and Ahriman would be if one day they could claim that countless numbers of the dead had passed into their sphere ... This devilish plan — for here we have indeed to do with the devil — was put into effect by Lucifer and Ahriman...." [6]


Causing us to lose our souls — this is the dreadful goal of Lucifer and Ahriman. Steiner said both Lucifer and Ahriman have sought to establish their own kingdoms, their own worlds, and to lure us there. If we succumb, the penalty is indeed the loss of our souls. Thus, for instance, 


"The human being is...in danger of drifting into the Ahrimanic world [i.e., the world presided over by Ahriman], in which case the spirit-soul will evaporate into the cosmos. We live in a time when people face the danger of losing their souls...." [7]


Lucifer and Ahriman are rivals, but they are also partners. 


“If Goethe in his day had thoroughly understood how things stand...he would never have represented the Mephistophelean power [i.e., Ahriman] as Faust's only enemy and seducer ... [R]ather, he would have shown Lucifer as complementing and opposing this Mephistophelean power whom we recognize as identical with Ahriman....” [8]


Somewhat like crime bosses, Lucifer and Ahriman work together, sometimes, and they oppose each other, sometimes.


Lucifer often seems more attractive than Ahriman, and thus perhaps we may consider him less evil. But Steiner insisted on the essential equality of these demons as representatives of wickedness. In the enormous statue that stands in the Anthroposophical headquarters, Christ is shown standing between Lucifer and Ahriman, balancing the two while also fending them off. We can receive the "gifts" of these demons if the gifts are channeled through Christ and thus, as it were, decontaminated. But otherwise, Lucifer and Ahriman may steal our souls and destroy us. As we have seen, "here we have indeed to do with the devil."


The devil, clearly, is nasty. Unless. Unless the good gods make good use of the devil. Perhaps the devil has evil intentions, but perhaps the good gods can attain their own beneficent aims anyway. And perhaps the "badness" of Lucifer and Ahriman is a sort of a disguise, or at least a misapprehension on our part. Steiner warned against applying human concepts of good and evil to the workings of the spirit realm. 


“Most people picture Ahriman and Lucifer as evil beings ... But this is not true ... [W]e cannot say that there are good gods and the evil gods Ahriman and Lucifer.” [9] 


So we cycle back to the happy, third explanation of evil. There is really no such thing as evil. The "evil" gods serve the good gods, whether or not they mean to. 


“The unrighteousness originating from the activities of Lucifer and Ahriman behind the scenes of existence is led by the good gods into the path of righteousness again....” [10]


 

                             

  

   

For some people, the blurring of good and evil is one of the chief attractions of Anthroposophy. For others, it is a chief deficiency in that faith. If evil doesn't really exist, if the forces of good are paramount, then hallelujah. But our moral compass breaks, then. Denying that evil is real, denying that it stands in opposition to the good, may blind us. We lose our way; we are unable to choose virtue rather than depravity, since we no longer recognize the difference.


Steiner did not mean to lead us into moral confusion, of course. He did not always deny the reality of evil; but he argued that spiritual realities are very nearly beyond human comprehension. Certainly, spiritual realities are beyond the normal categories people use to categorize phenomena. Thus, evil may be terribly iniquitous, and at the same time it may be just a glitch — indeed, it may be, ultimately, good, sort of.


Steiner's vision was gnostic. [See "Gnosis".] The universe is terribly complex, he said, and it is murky to the uninitiated. To save ourselves, we must attain esoteric wisdom, occult knowledge — which he claimed to offer. To understand questions of good and evil, we must come to Steiner's vision, Anthroposophy. We should follow Steiner as spiritual aspirants follow a guru, he indicated. [See "Guru".]


We cannot think our way to solutions, Steiner said. Our brains have little value. [See "Steiner's Specific".] The path to truth begins in our hearts and follows our emotions to the higher realms. We must school our emotions. [See "Knowing the Worlds".] Through schooled, focused feeling  we can contact the gods. But beware the temptation to enter the spirit realm without learning the proper doctrines first. You must attend to Steiner. 


"Feeling really has a connection with all the spiritual beings ... [But] if a person with inadequate concepts sinks into his or her feeling life, he or she comes in collision with the gods — if you like to put it that way — but also with evil gods. And all these collisions occur because the person entered this realm without any reliable means of knowledge.” [11]


Steiner will lead you and resolve your problems. But don't misunderstand. The higher realms he can direct you to are populated by "the gods — if you like to put it that way — but also [by] evil gods."

  

  

  

  

  

 

 

 

                                                                                      

  

  

  

  

  

  

Realm of evil?

(Just a guess.)

[R.R.]


 

 

 

 

                                                                                       

  

  

  

  

  

“[T]here was a moment in the development of mankind when the tempters, Lucifer and Ahriman, crept into the human soul. In what form do Lucifer and Ahriman live within us today? This is not easy to discover without the aid of clairvoyant investigation, and Goethe expressed a deep truth when he said: 'Folks do not notice the Devil, even when he takes them by the scruff of the neck!' In fact, it is possible to ignore the devil; it is possible not to see him. From the standpoint of modern natural science it is easy to say that Mephistopheles does not exist; nevertheless, Lucifer and Ahriman live in human nature. Ahriman lives in the etheric body and Lucifer in the astral body of man.


“Lucifer is a power that tempts the human soul by drawing it down morally and by leading it away from its origin. He casts us into the depths of earthly nature and we should beware of this. Lucifer is the power that draws us down into the depths of passion.


“Ahriman, on the other hand, is the spirit of falsehood and error and he falsifies our judgments.


“Both Lucifer and Ahriman are powers which are hostile to human progress. Yet they get on very well with each other. Envy is a quality in which the Luciferic power comes to expression. It is a detestable quality and that is why people dislike it. They seek to get rid of it, to overcome it and drive it away. When a person first discovers that his soul is filled with envy, he begins to fight against Lucifer, the source of envy. What does Lucifer do in that case? He simply hands over the matter to Ahriman, and Ahriman darkens the human judgment.” — Rudolf Steiner, “Morality and Karma” (Anthroposophic News Sheet, No. 41/42, Oct. 15, 1944).

  

 

 

 

 

                                                                                       

 

 

 

 

 

Lucifer and Ahriman have long threatened humanity with destruction. They have been fended off primarily by Christ, the Sun God, who has manifested himself on several occasions. Each such occasion was a "Christ Event."


"If, during the old Lemurian epoch, the first Christ-Event had not taken place, Lucifer and Ahriman would have been able to bring about disaster to the whole of humanity." — Rudolf Steiner, "Pre-Earthly Deeds of Christ", a lecture, GA 152. [For more of Steiner's "Christian" teachings — including the nature of the two Jesus children — see "Was He Christian?"]

 






                                                                                      

  

 

 

 

 

  

From time out of mind, humans have struggled with the question: Why would God, or the gods, allow pain and suffering to afflict us? Why is evil allowed to exist?


The actions of Lucifer, Ahriman, and other dark powers provide a partial explanation. But it isn’t a complete explanation. If God is mightier than Satan, for instance, God could defeat all of Satan’s evil plans.


Steiner’s explanation, not unlike that of some mainstream theologians, includes the proposition that pain, suffering, and evil are permitted because they are good for us. Here is a fairly clear statement of this proposition by a widely read Anthroposophist:


“In the process of growing up, the child meets difficulties, obstacles and resistance, and in so doing furthers his or her development. The case is similar in the development of mankind ... What must be realized is that evil and freedom arise from the same source. The evolution of evil is permitted for the sake of human freedom. Evil awakens counter-forces. Of necessity man has to face the devil and risk contact but at the same time he has to avoid falling prey to him ... With the help of Christ it lies in the ability of man not only to further his own evolution but to redeem his adversaries [e.g., Lucifer and Ahriman].” — Roy Wilkinson, RUDOLF STEINER: An Introduction to His Spiritual World-View (Temple Lodge Publishing 2005), p. 185.


Take what comfort you can from that.  What it implies is that, in evolving and seeking to be free, we bring our troubles on ourselves. It is our fault, you see.


"[I]f man is to be free then he must be able to choose between good and evil ... [T]here is little point in accusing the Deity of neglect.  Man, collectively, is responsible.” — Ibid., p. 124.


Take what comfort you can from that.  


 

  

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                      

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 



Lucifer and Ahriman sometimes cooperate in order to foil various beneficent gods. One example: At night our astral bodies fly to the spirit realm and then return the next morning bearing influences that should penetrate our etheric and physical bodies. But the demons prevent the physical body from receiving the blessings the astral body would otherwise bestow. The image on the left shows how things should be; the one on the right shows demonic interference. The blue area in each image is the physical body; ochre is the etheric body; yellow represents astral influences. [For more on our various bodies, see "Incarnation".]


“The subtle after-effect...of the weaving life we are immersed in during sleep, should penetrate our physical and etheric bodies ... Let me try to draw this, to depict the original intentions of the...divinities guiding human evolution ... What I have drawn here represents the inhalation, as it were, by our etheric and physical bodies at the moment of waking of all the experiences of our astral body ... [But the] luciferic temptation prevented this ... The result is that at the moment of waking, Lucifer passes to Ahriman all that ought to penetrate the physical body.” — Rudolf Steiner, EVIL (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1997), pp. 116-117. 


Thus the demons withhold from the physical body the spiritual influences it should receive from the astral body. Because of this Lucifer-to-Ahriman double whammy, we are denied — while living in the physical world — direct comprehension of the spirit realm. Instead, we are trapped in a realm of Ahrimanic delusion. 


"We dwell under Ahriman's dominion in our orientation towards outer knowledge which relates to the external world of the senses." — Ibid., p. 119. 



[The drawings are my renditions of the b & w images in the book; Steiner specified the colors.]


 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

                                                                                      

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   


This is Lucifer, as depicted in the monumental statue — designed by Steiner — that stands in the Anthroposophical headquarters. [See "Prototype".] Lucifer's face is almost attractive, but his body is reptilian and skeletal. Note, too, that Lucifer's grotesque lower appendages are entangled with Ahriman, who crouches below him.



Above is a clearer picture of Ahriman — horned and grasping — as depicted in the monumental statue. And below is an even more devilish impression of Ahriman, this time in a bust attributed to Steiner.



Not a friendly-looking dude. Indeed, he seems quite ill-disposed. We might almost say he looks like a bad guy.



[Public domain photographs.]

   

   

 

 

 

 

  

   

   

   

   

                                                                                      

  

  

  

  

 

  

   

The evil intentions of Lucifer and Ahriman extend into more areas than race. They also encompass animalistic tendencies. 


"If we had become what Lucifer and Ahriman intended and had been thrown upon our own resources, we should have been chased about the world by animal desires for what satisfied one organ or another...." — Rudolf Steiner, THE FOUR SACRIFICES OF CHRIST (Anthroposophic Press, 1944), GA 152. 


There is a connection. Steiner spoke of "animalistic-racial" tendencies, indicative of a low level of development. 


"Those who have entered into the intellectual age no longer have a strong feeling for the animalistic-racial element.” — Rudolf Steiner, THE CYCLE OF THE YEAR AS BREATHING PROCESS OF THE EARTH (Anthroposophic Press, 1984), p. 68. 


We need intellect during our current stage of evolution, but it is dangerous. Becoming modern intellectual beings, we potentially fall under the sway of “the supreme intellectual power: Ahriman.” — Rudolf Steiner, NATURE SPIRITS (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1995), p. 167.


Ahriman is the foe battled by Michael, the Archangel of the Sun. Annually, Ahriman's powers grow within the earth; annually, Michael has to slay Ahriman, symbolized by the Dragon. 


“Because the Earth is a mirror of the cosmos in the summer, it is also opaque in its inner nature, impermeable by cosmic influences and therefore, during the summer time, impermeable to the Christ Impulse. At this time the Christ Impulse has to live in the [Earth’s] exhaled breath. The Ahrimanic forces, however, establish themselves firmly in this Earth which has become impervious to the Christ Impulse ... [F]rom spiritual heights there comes to the aid of the descending human soul the force of Michael, who, while the Earth’s breath is flowing back into the Earth itself, contends with the Dragon, Ahriman.” — THE CYCLE OF THE YEAR AS BREATHING PROCESS OF THE EARTH, p. 11. 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                       

  

  

  

  

  

  

Lucifer and Ahriman are not the only evil spirits.


"The evil astral world is the province of Lucifer, the evil Lower Devachan the province of Ahriman, and the evil Higher Devachan the province of the Asuras." — Rudolf Steiner, THE ETHERISATION OF THE BLOOD (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1971), GA 130.


The astral world is the soul realm, a world below the spirit world. Devachan is the numinous realm in general; the term comes from Theosophy. All the worlds above us include evil sectors, evil sides, evil gods. [For more on the spiritual realms, see "Higher Worlds".]


Asuras are evil spiritual beings described in Hinduism. Steiner classified them as errant gods who properly belong three levels above humanity, but who went astray. 


"Asuras are spirits of the very greatest egoism who remained behind during Saturn evolution. They want to condense matter and compress it ever more so that it can't be spiritualized and brought back to its original condition. They're the dregs of the planetary evolution that goes form Saturn to Vulcan. The asuras inhabit the moon and from there they work on the men whom they want to drag down into the eighth sphere and thereby tear away from progressive evolution and its goal — the Christ. All those who strive towards the eighth sphere will eventually live on a moon." — Rudolf Steiner, FROM THE CONTENTS OF ESOTERIC CLASSES (transcript, Rudolf Steiner Archive), GA 266.


[For more about Asuras, see "Evil Ones". For information about the eighth spere, see "Sphere #8". To gain acquaintance with a litany of evil spirits, see the entries in The Brief Waldorf / Steiner Encyclopedia for such terms as "Spirits of Adversity", "Spirits of Darkness", "Spirits of Opposition", etc.]

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                              

 

  

  

  

  

     BADDEST

 

 

Sadly, we haven't gotten to the baddest of all yet.


The worst of all, by some accounts, is the arch-enemy of Christ. This evil being is known as the Antichrist. Some people identify him with Ahriman, but that's not quite right. The true Antichrist, according to Steiner, is Sorat, the Sun Demon — and he has stalked humanity with particular vehemence since his most recent re-emergence, coming late in the twentieth century.


"This being is known as Sorat, the Sun Demon and the most powerful opponent to Christ Jesus in the universe. Sorat rises every 666 years to deceive humanity. Now that in 1998 three times 666 years have run their course since the birth of Christ, it will aim its wrath at humanity again. Sorat will do everything in its power to obliterate humanity’s connection with the spiritual world and tempt humanity to deny Christ." — Rudolf Steiner, THE BOOK OF REVELATION AND THE WORK OF THE PRIEST (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1998), Introduction by René Querido, p. 8. 


"Before us lies the time of the third number 666: 1998. At the end of this century [i.e., the twentieth] the time will come when Sorat will once again raise his head most strongly out of the waves of evolution to become the adversary of that appearance of Christ which those who have been prepared for it will already experience during the first half of the twentieth century when the Etheric Chris becomes visible. Only two thirds of the century will have still to run before Sorat once again raises his head most mightily." — Ibid., p. 117.


 

                             

  

   

"Sorat has meant ‘Demon of the Sun’ since ancient times. Every star has its good spirit — its intelligence — and its evil spirit — its demon. The adversary of the good powers of the sun is called Sorat. Christ was always the representative of the sun, namely, the intelligence of the Sun. Sorat is, then, the adversary of Christ Jesus. The sign for Sorat looks like this...[with] two horns like a lamb... [and a] barb or sting.” — Rudolf Steiner, READING THE SIGNS OF THE APOCALYPSE (SteinerBooks, 1993), p. 19.




[R.R. sketch, 2011,

based on Steiner's.]






The emergence of Sorat represents the establishment of pure evil threatening human evolution.


"The fifth root race [i.e., the major racial form of our epoch] will perish through evil. Good and evil are still relatively undifferentiated and it's hard to see who's evil or good behind the flesh. When the forces of the masters and of the men who join them with their whole strength and will, and when the forces of the Gods of hindrances, Mammon, Satan, Asuras and their human followers intervene ever more mightily into human life and earth evolution, then good will develop into a divine good, and evil into a terrible Antichrist. Then every one of us needs world helpers and all the strength that he can only gain through the overcoming of suffering and evil. It is [our] aim...to summon men to this battle via [occult] knowledge and to give them peace in the battle." — Rudolf Steiner, FROM THE CONTENTS OF ESOTERIC CLASSES (Rudolf Steiner Archive), November 1, 1906, GA 266.


Warfare between good and evil are then a literal necessity. If Steiner sometimes indicated that evil is illusory, at other times he indicated something else: He taught that the good must take up arms against evil. Combat, warfare, and violence against the forces of evil are historical necessities. [See, e.g., "Violence" and "All vs. All".]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                              

 

 

 

 

 

In this context, Lucifer and Ahriman may not seem so  very bad. Christ can secure for us the potential benefits of Luciferic and Ahrimanic ways. But Christ does not moderate the Antichrist — he opposes him. Sorat is the Enemy, who leads his followers to destruction.


"[T]hose who have proven themselves to be immature in the age of Venus-Earth, who have placed themselves under the rulership of Sorat, must now isolate themselves on a special sphere of earth ... The black magicians inhabit this eighth sphere, which goes to the left [i.e., the wrong direction] and away, and the beast gives a home to all that thus falls away: that is the eighth state."— Rudolf Steiner, READING THE PICTURES OF THE APOCALYPSE (Anthroposophic Press, 1993), part 2, lecture 12, GA 104a.

 

 

 

 

 

                             

 

  

  

  

  

Unless you are a Christian or an Anthroposophist, you may doubt that any such being as the Antichrist exists. If you are a Christian, you will probably agree that the Antichrist is the worst of mankind's foes. But if you are a Christian, do you agree that Ahriman — a Zoroastrian devil — exists? And do you agree that Christ is the Sun God — i.e., He is Sol, He is Helios, He is Ra? And do you agree that the Antichrist comes from the Sun, like the Sun God? There is only one frame of reference in which all of this makes sense — and even then it doesn't make a lot of sense. That frame of reference is the pagan religion called Anthroposophy.

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

                             

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sorat, Demon of the Sun —

based on a painting by Waldorf teacher Charles Kovacs, 

reproduced in his book

THE APOCALYPSE IN RUDOLF STEINER'S LECTURE SERIES

(Floris Books, 2013).

[R.R. sketch, 2015.]




"[T]here is also an opposing principle to the Lamb [Christ], there is also a Sun-Demon [the Antichrist], the so-called Demon of the Sun, that works with the evil forces of man, thrusting back the force of the Lamb, and it works in such a way that a certain part of the human race is trust out of the evolution that leads to the sun [i.e., the realm of Christ, the Sun God] ... [They will] be thrown out of our evolution when the 666 conditions of development have passed away; they will then be finally cast into the abyss.” — Rudolf Steiner, THE APOCALYPSE OF ST. JOHN (Anthroposophic Press, 1993), p. 198.

 

 

 

 


— Roger Rawlings

   

   

  

 

 

 

                                                                                       

    

    

    

    


Endnotes



[1] The World Book Multimedia Encyclopedia, Mac OS X Edition, Version. 6.0.2.


[2] Rudolf Steiner, KARMIC RELATIONSHIPS, Vol. 2 (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1974), p. 251.


[3] Rudolf Steiner, FACULTY MEETINGS WITH RUDOLF STEINER, Foundations of Waldorf Education  (Anthroposophic Press, 1998), p. 649.


[4] Rudolf Steiner, THEOSOPHY OF THE ROSICRUCIAN (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1966), lecture 9, GA 99.


[5] Rudolf Steiner, THE UNIVERSAL HUMAN: The Evolution of Individuality (Anthroposophic Press, 1990), p. 75.


For more on Steiner's racial teachings, see "Steiner's Racism" and "Races".


[6] Rudolf Steiner, THE OCCULT MOVEMENT IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY AND ITS RELATION TO MODERN CULTURE (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1973), pp. 92-93.


For more on perdition as conceived by Steiner, see "Sphere 8" and "Hell".

 

[7] FACULTY MEETINGS WITH RUDOLF STEINER, p. 115.


[8] Rudolf Steiner, THE INCARNATION OF AHRIMAN: The Embodiment of Evil on Earth (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2006), p. 1.

 

[9] THE UNIVERSAL HUMAN, p. 84.


[10] KARMIC RELATIONSHIPS, Vol. 2, p. 251.


[11] Rudolf Steiner, PSYCHOANALYSIS AND SPIRITUAL PSYCHOLOGY (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1990), p. 70.