Anthroposophy
A religious and philosophical system based on the theosophical ideas
of Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925). Born in Hungary and raised a Roman
Catholic, Steiner studied science at the University of Vienna, became
an accomplished Goethe scholar, and acquired an intense interest in the
occult. In 1902, while serving as editor of a literary magazine, he
became general secretary of the German Theosophical Society but soon
grew disillusioned with its overstress on Eastern religious thought. In
1913 Steiner broke with theosophy and founded the Anthroposophical
Society, which joined certain Christian elements to its basically
theosophical outlook. In 1922 Steiner and Friedrich Rittlemeyer, a
former Protestant pastor, organized the movement into "Christian
Fellowships" (Christengemeinschaften) where priests and priestesses
performed mystical rites patterned after the Catholic Mass.
Like theosophy from which it came, anthroposophy includes elements
from Hinduism, Neoplatonism, Gnosticism, and Sufism. It affirms the
existence of spiritual as well as material worlds and teaches that
salvation consists of escaping the confines of the material world by
obtaining esoteric spiritual knowledge about the true nature of things.
Unlike theosophy (wisdom of God), which holds that such knowledge comes
from avatars (incarnations) and arhats (master teachers), anthroposophy
(wisdom of man) teaches that people possess the truth within
themselves. By cultivating one's occult powers through certain mental,
physical, and spiritual exercises, anyone can become a Hellseher, a
master of clear vision, and thereby gain extraordinary spiritual
insight. According to Steiner's doctrine of the "seven lotus flowers,"
each person has seven bodies (physical, astral, etheric, the most
intimate "I," etc.) which open out, like the lotus blossom, to new
levels of truth. Once these spiritual organs are developed through
meditation (yoga), one has access to "cosmic memory" through which he
can understand all things.
Whereas theosophy views Christ as only one of many avatars,
anthroposophy teaches that Christ is the only avatar, an exalted solar
being (Sonnenwesen) who entered human history as the full revelation of
the spiritual world. Contact with Christ brings deeper penetration into
his own knowledge of reality. Thus for anthroposophists celebration of
the Eucharist has ultimate significance. Called the "Act of the
Consecration of Man." the sacrament mystically joins the celebrant with
the spirit and body of Christ, making him truly "man" and capable of
realizing his own occultic powers.
Anthroposophy was condemned by the Roman Catholic Church in 1919.
Followers today are most numerous in Germany, Britain, and the United
States, and generally are drawn from "intellectuals" in search of more
"effervescent" religious experience outside established religious
channels.
T. P. WeberR
Bibliography.
G. A. Kaufmann, Fruits of Anthroposophy; R. Steiner, The
Story of My Life; F. Rittlemeyer, Reincarnation.
The individual articles presented here were generally first published
in the early 1980s. This subject presentation was first placed
on the Internet in December 1997.
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