Some of my thoughts: Here is a quote of Steiner speaking of the dark forces we must prepare ourselves to be able to see them when they emerge in our economic life. Ahriman is alive and thriving in the economic segment of human culture these days. Some folks think talking about evil is too woo-woo, too 'out there'. Not me. I believe Ahriman is thriving in Berkeley, appearing in the form of many greedy, grasping and dishonest humans seeking unjust advantage at the expensive of community needs. This crowd slithers along by catering to the rich, who are far too often more Ahrimanic than they are Christ-like.
By the way, Steiner wrote often of 'the Christ impulse'. He did not consider Anthroposophy to be a Christian philosophy. He considered Christ, along with several other outstanding beings in human history, to represent a singularly powerful energy: love. The Christ impulse is to embrace love in all our interactions, most especially the economic realm. It's not as Christian-y as it might appear. I absolutely do not identify as a Christian but I recognize that a person known as Jesus Christ lived on this earth and that being invited all of us to embody love in everything we do.
Here is the Steiner quote I am sitting with today:
"We must endeavour clearly to understand, that that which today we call human understanding is always, so long as we have not spiritualized it, a gift of that Lucifer. We must not hold merely, in a matter-of-fact, bourgeois way, the one-sided idea that anything Luciferic is dreadful, and we must get rid of it. The more we seek to get rid of Lucifer, the more we are dominated by him, for it was necessary during thousands of years of human evolution to enter into the inheritance of the incarnated Lucifer. Then came the Mystery of Golgotha. And a time will come in the future when, just as Lucifer was incorporated in the East in an earthly personality, to prepare for Christianity among the heathen, so in the West there will take place an earthly incarnation of Ahriman himself. This time is approaching. Ahriman will appear, objectively, on the earth. Just as truly as Lucifer has walked the Earth, and as Christ has walked the Earth, objectively, in human form, so will Ahriman walk the Earth, bringing with him an extraordinary increase of power to the earthly human understanding. We men have not the task of hindering in any way this incarnation of Ahriman, but it is our task so to prepare humanity beforehand, that Ahriman may be estimated in the right way. For Ahriman will have tasks, he will have to do this and that, and men must value rightly and make a right use of that which, through Ahriman, comes into the world. Men will only be able to do this if they are able to adjust themselves now in the right way to that which Ahriman is already sending to the Earth from the Worlds beyond in order that he may control the Economic life upon Earth without being noticed. This must not be. Ahriman must not control the Economic life on the Earth without his being noticed. We must thoroughly learn to know his particular qualities. We must be able to oppose him with full consciousness. ... It is most important for man at the present time to place Christ in the centre between Ahriman and Lucifer. The Christ power must permeate us. But as men we must always seek the balance between the mystic enthusiasm which tends to lift us above ourselves, and the materialistic understanding which by its bourgeois heaviness drags us down to earth. At every moment we must seek the balance between the Luciferic impulses which lift us up, and the Ahrimanic which drag us down. In the effort to gain this balance we find the Christ. When we strive to gain this balance, then alone can we find the Christ." -- R.Steiner, The Cosmic New Year, The Michael Path To Christ: A Christmas Lecture, 25th December, 1919
Now my thoughts: Ahriman and Lucifer are two powerful, supersensible beings. In my grade school Catholic school religious education, Ahriman and Lucifer were rolled into one evil, fallen angel, known as 'the devil'. Evil is complex, as all things are. It is a mistake to wrongly believe there is only one supersensible being with negative, evil intentions for humanity. In this quote from a Steiner lecture, he sure sounds, to me, like he is describing what has been happening in human economic life for some time. The obscene and unjust distribution of wealth is Ahrimanic. The already very rich elite's drive to oppress the not-elitely-rich is Ahrimanic. We must develop our conscious ability to perceive the supersensible realm to be able to perceive Ahriman. We also need to develop our conscious abillity to perceive and participate with the supersensible realm, to invite angels and other supersensible beings into our lives.
I invite my guardian angel into my day every morning. I usually remind her that if and when she has guidance for me, that she guide me with bluntly overt clues. I remind her that I am a being in development, not yet an initiate. I remind her I need blunt clues to be sure I get them.
I don't need any supersensible beings to warn me about the Ahrimanic energy alive in the world today. At last week's city council meeting here in Berkeley, where our Mayor hijacked democracy and refused public comments on an agenda item, even though dozens in the audience were there to make comment, I wasn't thinking about Ahriman. I was, however, feeling evil emanating from the dais, feeling darkness was running the meeting.
I believe Mayor Tom Bates of Berkeley CA is in thrall to evil. And so are most who pursue obscene profits, especially windfall obscene profits made possible by a generous citizenry. There are good beings who'd like to develop housing but not many have the stomach or financial resources to fight the corrupt process alive in Berkeley these days. Ahriman lives all over but he is definitely putting in some overtime this year in Berkeley.
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