The Ahrimanic Deception

The Ahrimanic Deception 

Zurich, 27th October, 1919 (CW 193)

In this lecture Steiner lays out the 6,000 year plan of Lucifer, Christ, and Ahriman for humankind. Lucifer was incarnated the third millennium B. C. in the Far East of China, Christ was incarnated in the Middle East in the middle of the time period, and Ahriman will be incarnated in the third millennium A.D. in the West. This is a marvelous symmetry and balance which makes it also easy to remember. Without Christ in the center providing the necessary balance, we would be in a dilemma, having to choose between the spiritual inflation of Lucifer and the spiritual deflation of Ahriman. Without Christ’s balancing influence, we are led either to the airy folly of Icarus (ancient metaphor) or the computerized soul-less zombies of Dennett (modern metaphor).

“In addressing a public audience today on the most important question of our time, it makes a great difference if one speaks from a knowledge of the deeper forces of world historical evolution, that is, from initiation-science, or if one speaks without such knowledge. It is relatively easy to speak about modern questions if one relies upon data of external knowledge which are considered scientific, practical, and so on. It is, however, extraordinarily difficult to speak about these questions from the standpoint of initiation-science – from which indeed everything is derived with which we have to deal at such gatherings as ours today. For he who speaks from that standpoint about problems of the time knows that he is opposed not only by the casual, subjective opinions of those to whom he speaks. He knows too that a great part of mankind today is already under the control, from one side or another, of Ahrimanic forces of a cosmic nature which are growing stronger and stronger. To explain what I mean by this, I must give you a kind of historical survey of a fairly long period of human history.” – Rudolf Steiner

About the Author

Rudolf Steiner (1861–1925) was born in the small village of Kraljevec, Austro-Hungarian Empire (now in Croatia), where he grew up. As a young man, he lived in Weimar and Berlin, where he became a well-published scientific, literary, and philosophical scholar, known especially for his work with Goethe’s scientific writings. At the beginning of the twentieth century, he began to develop his early philosophical principles into an approach to systematic research into psychological and spiritual phenomena. Formally beginning his spiritual teaching career under the auspices of the Theosophical Society, Steiner came to use the term Anthroposophy (and spiritual science) for his philosophy, spiritual research, and findings. The influence of Steiner’s multifaceted genius has led to innovative and holistic approaches in medicine, various therapies, philosophy, religious renewal, Waldorf education, education for special needs, threefold economics, biodynamic agriculture, Goethean science, architecture, and the arts of drama, speech, and eurythmy. In 1924, Rudolf Steiner founded the General Anthroposophical Society, which today has branches throughout the world. He died in Dornach, Switzerland.